Held Together By Forces and Sparks
by KTstoriesandstuff
Summary: This is the prequel to "Perceptions of Shattered Brain." After Wiress Carpenter achieves an engineering feat in honor of her late parents, she is noticed by another young inventor by the name of Beetee Tesla. Over time, they share more than their love of engineering and discover a depth of love that can sustain both of them through the 54th Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **If I owned the Hunger Games, they would center around Team Nerds, guys!

**A/N:** Like I said in the summary, this is a prequel to Perceptions of a Shattered Brain. You don't have to read that first to get this though. I sort of thought it would be nice to have a bit of a back-story to Beetee and Wiress' relationship. Some elements in the story later on are borrowed (with permission) from Breathe by NutsandVolts. Enjoy :)

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The large three-story tall room in Factory Four was silent as the audience sat in their rows of benches facing a large machine that was part of a larger conveyor-belt system. The workers of the factory and students of the Engineering Academy applauded as the Lead Foreman came to the small podium in front of the machine.

"We are gathered here to remember the Carpenters who worked twenty years in Factory Four." The lead foreman said. "We are also here to honor a young inventor who will not let her parents' death be in vain." He paused and cleared his throat. "Wiress Carpenter, please come forward and accept this medal on behalf of Factory Four." An eighteen year old girl wearing a dark blue Engineering Academy sweater, black pleated skirt, and white blouse stood up in the front row at the prodding of her classmates who were also in the front row. She stood as the lead foreman put the medal around her neck.

"Thank you." Wiress said into the microphone. She paused. "I wish my parents could be here now." She admitted. "I would like to thank my grandmother for giving me the strength to continue when my days were dark. She reminded me that my parents lived on in me. I would also like to thank the faculty at the Engineering Academy who allowed me to use my work as part of their practical and project requirements." She took a folded apron from the foreman's hands and put it on. He handed her a helmet and safety goggles off of a table and she moved to the machine. "This machine will make the assembly line more efficient, and more importantly much safer." She felt much more at ease as she began explaining the various pieces. "Thank you for the opportunity to design this for you." She finished as the workers and her classmates gave her a standing ovation.

"Wiress Carpenter?" Wiress looked up from a plaque placed on the machine that read: _Designed by Wiress Carpenter – Junior at the Engineering Academy. In loving memory of her parents: Henry and Molly Carpenter._ A man in his mid-twenties wearing slacks, a button up shirt with a pen-filled pocket protector, and glasses stood near her machine. "Beetee Tesla. Innovations Incorporated." She smiled as he shook her hand. She knew who he was as he was at the Reapings every year as a Mentor to the various tributes from District Three. He had also spoken to her engineering classes about his inventions as an alumnus of the Engineering Academy.

"I-Squared." She said smiling figuring that he preferred being known for his engineering skills rather than his Victor/Mentor status. "I've heard of your work." He nodded. He looked at the plaque.

"Your parents would be proud." She traced the letters of her parents' names with her finger. "I was just speaking with your grandmother." He paused. "I would like to offer you an internship at I-Squared for the spring semester."

"Thank you." Wiress said. "We don't get credit for internships until our senior year." She explained. "But I suppose two internships can't hurt."

"They certainly can't." Beetee said smiling. "I'd better let you get back to the others. You do very nice work."

"Thank you. You do also, Mr. Tesla."

"Oh – please – call me Beetee." Beetee said smiling. He looked into her large eyes and his heart skipped a beat. Something about her intrigued him. He had noticed her even during brief moments of speaking at the academy. He wanted to continue talking to her, but he sensed she was a bit shy. Reluctantly, he went to talk with the foreman as two girls also from the Engineering Academy ran up to Wiress.

"OH MY GOSH!" Julie gasped before wrapping Wiress in a hug. "This is _so cool!_" She squealed looking at the machine. "I thought I did great by developing a part of a motor for the hydroelectric dam as my mid-year project, but you designed a _whole machine!" _

"I – well –I just changed some things." Wiress said staring at her feet.

"Oh – don't be shy, Wiress." The other girl Melissa said giving her a hug. "We all know that you're about five levels above everyone else in brains." She quipped. "I know you're humble about it, though." She said quietly. Wiress nodded.

"C'mon, we're going to the factory cafeteria! They have cake!" Julie skipped ahead of the other girls, her long brown curls bouncing down her back. Melissa draped an arm around Wiress. She figured Wiress' quiet demeanor in the midst of a ceremony honoring her was due to missing her parents.

"Um – Melissa – I'm doing an internship." Wiress said quietly. She knew Melissa would keep the information to herself rather than blabbing it to the other juniors within the academy.

"Was that what you and Beetee Tesla were talking about?" Melissa asked. Wiress nodded. "Wow!"

"Um – if – you or – Julie – would like to do an internship there too – maybe – like in the summer - I could ask him for you."

"Aw – Wiress, you're so sweet!" Melissa sighed. "I'm working with my dad again this summer, and I think Julie's working with the water and utilities division of the Mayor's office. We appreciate the offer though." She paused. "Doesn't Beetee have to mentor?"

"Yeah. He's only gone two to three weeks at the beginning of the summer though." Wiress reasoned. They reached the cafeteria where the workers and students gave Wiress a standing ovation when she walked in. She was wrapped in hugs by many of her parents' co-workers and the other students. She finally made it to a table where she sat with her grandmother and the head foreman as they enjoyed cake.

"I'm proud of you, little live-wire." Mrs. Carpenter said hugging her granddaughter. "You're going to have a great future, honey. I know your parents are excited for you. They're watching over you." Wiress nodded. She scanned the crowd once more. Her friends waved at her, and Mr. Tesla gave her a smile as her eyes met his. She wished her parents could share in this celebration in person, but she knew her grandmother was right. They would be watching over her no matter what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

True to Beetee's word, Wiress began her first Saturday of the Spring semester of her junior year. She would only be there on Saturdays since she was taking a full load at school. She walked briskly to I-Squared which was a small shed near the factories. She adjusted her backpack filled with books and manuals before knocking on the door. She smiled and shook Beetee's hand when he opened the door. "Welcome in, Wiress." Beetee said smiling.

"Thanks for offering this internship." Wiress said smiling. Beetee showed her to the worktable and watched as she spread out her books on the surface. She blushed hearing him chuckle. "I – um – I didn't know – which reference materials I would need."

"That's quite all right. You're a smart young lady. You'll figure it out." Beetee said hoping the blush wasn't creeping up his face as well. He explained the project he was working on. They were soon at their tables sketching and talking about the project.

"Mr. Tesla?" Wiress asked two hours later.

"Yes, Miss Carpenter?" For reasons unexplained, Wiress felt herself blushing whenever Beetee looked at her with a playful smile on his face. "You know you can call me Beetee."

"I think we need to use three inch gears in the mechanism here." Wiress showed him the drawing she had drafted.

"Yes. You're right." Beetee said. He went back to his drawing pad and erased his drawing for the third time.

"I – do you have to start over again?" Wiress asked worriedly.

"No, I'm just stuck on a part." Beetee sighed and put his pencil down. He grabbed his calculator off the table and did some calculations and wrote them down on a notepad. He then drew a question-mark underneath. "His ally said that District 7 needed some way to improve the wood lamination process." he said to himself. He sighed. Wiress came around to the other side of the table and looked at his face. He had a familiar far-off expression in his eyes.

"You – You invent in their memory, don't you." Wiress asked softly talking about the previous tributes from District Three. She pulled up a chair and sat on the left side of Beetee at the square worktable. Beetee slowly nodded. He put his chin in his hand and drummed his fingers on his left hand on the pad. "I – " Wiress paused. "I was sad for a bit. After the ceremony last month."

"I'm sure you were." Beetee said softly. "I'm sure you were." He looked at his drawing and blinked back tears remembering his tributes.

"Should we – should we walk around?" Wiress suggested timidly. "It helps me think sometimes."

"Sure." Beetee said. He stood up and grabbed his coat. Wiress put on her sweater and they began walking down the street. The January wind was picking up and Wiress shivered as they rounded the corner. Beetee took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

"Aren't you cold?" Wiress asked concerned.

"No." Beetee said through chattering teeth. They walked around the block in silence. Beetee refused two more offers for his coat back. They came back to I-Squared. "Thanks. That walk really did help."

"You're welcome." Wiress said after hanging his coat on a hook. She noticed Beetee's hands were nearly blue from the cold. Logically she knew that he could warm them by the heater near his worktable, but she found herself grasping them and rubbing them between her hands. Beetee smiled and grasped both of her hands once the feeling returned to his fingers. Suddenly they were both aware that they were holding hands with their fingers entwined. Stammering their thanks to each other while blushing madly, they pulled apart and went back to their drawings. Beetee insisted she wear an extra coat he had around his shop when she walked home at the end of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wiress, honey, are you almost done?" Wiress hurriedly tied a ribbon around her hair and opened the door to the bathroom. She was preparing for her fifth Saturday at I-Squared.

"Sorry, Grandma!" Mrs. Carpenter smiled.

"I will only be a minute and then you can finish freshening up." Wiress nodded. She went into the bathroom a minute later and finished doing her hair. Her grandmother smiled as she watched Wiress being extra careful to prevent getting her shirt dirty with her pancake. "Don't worry, dear, young Mr. Tesla will think you look very nice." Wiress nearly choked on her water as her grandma started chuckling.

"GRANDMA! I – well – um – I want to look nice – professionally!" Wiress sputtered.

"I was eighteen too, little live-wire." Her grandmother said smiling. "I had a crush on your grandfather since I was sixteen. He bought me a ring with his second paycheck from the factory when we were both nineteen." Wiress smiled.

"Grandma – he probably wasn't your supervisor." Wiress pointed out.

"No, he wasn't. But I know whatever happens with you two, it won't affect your work." Her grandmother said smiling.

"I – I'm – just grateful for his help – for – letting me work there." Her grandmother smiled before collecting their plates. Wiress kissed her grandmother before pulling her Engineering Academy sweater over her shirt. She put on her winter coat that her grandmother had finished mending, grabbed her backpack, and walked to her internship.

"You look nice, Wiress." Beetee said as he opened the door. He looked at the shimmering ribbon in her hair. Wiress smiled shyly at him. She put her backpack on the table before taking her coat off. As she removed her coat, she noticed Beetee was helping her with slightly trembling hands.

"You don't have to wear your uniform to this internship, by the way." Beetee said. He had noticed that she had worn her Engineering Academy sweater every Saturday she had worked and wondered if she thought it was cold.

"Well – it's cold outside – and – this sweater is nice under my coat." Wiress explained.

"If you want, you can leave a sweater here if you need to. I can also turn the heat up if you're cold." Beetee suggested.

"Oh – I – I wear it here to keep warm when I walk." Wiress paused. She didn't like revealing to people that she and her grandmother sometimes struggled to get by. "I just have this one." Beetee nodded. "I – um – " She paused. "Grandmother and I – we had a yard sale a while back – and – well – it was either that or me take out tesserae – and – Grandmother – doesn't want me to do that now that I have your scholarship –" Wiress wrapped her arms around herself stared down at the ground. Beetee nodded. Most of the profits from I-Squared went to a scholarship fund for students in the Engineering Academy that would provide for their basic needs so they wouldn't take out tesserae. Wiress had received that scholarship every year after her parents died.

"Ok. That's ok." Beetee said softly putting a hand on Wiress' shoulder. She looked up. "My lamp did better than I expected when it went on sale in March." he said. "I think I can help you."

"I – well –" Wiress paused. She didn't want Beetee to feel sorry for her.

"I had planned for this to be a paid internship, Wiress." Beetee said simply. Wiress nodded before sitting down at the table and beginning her work.

Beetee watched her work. He sighed. _Beetee Tesla, she's eighteen and the student you're supervising in an internship. What are you thinking?_ He watched her sketch something on her drawing tablet and then consult her textbook. "Beetee?" She asked timidly looking into his intense gaze in her direction. "Um – did you have a question?"

"Sorry. I was just thinking." Beetee replied. He went back to his work. Designing a new machine was logical. He knew his feelings: admiration, desire to protect and help, and possibly love for Wiress could not necessarily fit into a nice logical niche in his mind. Technically they could. Wiress + Beetee _does not equal_ anything because Beetee is a killer who survived the Hunger Games. What could he really offer this intelligent sweet young lady. He could maintain that logical train of thought until she locked her large beautiful eyes on his face.

The day progressed normally with both of them making quick progress on their project. Wiress went home and Beetee watched her walk down the street as he usually did. He saw another girl with dark brown chin-length hair run to Wiress before they walked off in the direction of some shops near the factory. He smiled. _That must be Melissa,_ he thought knowing Wiress had mentioned getting together with her friend after work. He waited and then went to the shops himself to pick up groceries and a few other things.

"Hello, Mr. Tesla!" The woman in the clothing store said smiling. "We have a new shipment of button-up shirts in from Eight if you would like to look at them."

"No thanks. I still have some that don't have holes." Beetee joked. She laughed. He looked around the store and saw a dark purple V neck sweater on a clothing rack. "Um –" he went over to it and looked at it. In his mind's eye, he could see Wiress wearing it over her school blouse or plain shirt, her large eyes shining with happiness knowing she would feel warm. "Is this one particularly warm?"

"It is." the woman said. "Is it a gift?"

"Yes." Beetee said hoping she wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Oh good. Well, it's on sale today. 5 Panem Monetary Units." Beetee nodded. He purchased it along with a tie he could add to his Reaping Day outfit collection. "Have a great day, Mr. Tesla!"

"Thank you." Beetee said before leaving the store. He went back to Victor's Village and lay the sweater carefully on a table in his study. He hoped she wouldn't see it as a gesture of pity. It really wasn't. He knew that in the deepest part of his heart, the gesture of giving her this sweater was an act of love.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hi, Wiress!" Julie called. She was buying yarn for her mother at a small arts and crafts store. She was surprised to see Wiress because she knew Wiress had her internship in a few minutes.

"Hi." Wiress said grinning from the end of the aisle. "I can't talk long, Jules, I'm headed to I-Squared."

"Bringing _ FLOWERS!_" Julie squealed. Wiress blushed. She had a bouquet of fabric flowers in her hand. "Aaaaw! That's so sweet and romantic!" Wiress instantly blushed. She had hoped this crush or whatever illogical feelings she had related to Beetee weren't terribly obvious to others.

"JULIE!" She yelped. "I thought they would brighten up the shed and – um – I just – thought – they would be nice." Julie batted her eyes. "Oh come on! Do the words 'internship supervisor' mean anything to you?" Julie eyed the skein of yarn on a shelf before selecting a light blue one.

"Yeah. For one semester." Julie said teasingly. They paid for their purchases and began walking down the street.

"Why are you following me? It's just factories this way." Wiress asked puzzled.

"Oh – just keeping my friend company while she walks to her internship." Julie replied skipping along. Wiress shook her head. Julie was a helpless romantic and somehow managed to keep up with her classes as well as keep tabs on who liked who and who was dating who at the academy. She reached the small shed marked I-Squared. Julie jumped behind a light-post and gave Wiress a thumbs-up.

"You know you don't have to knock, Wiress." Beetee called from inside.

"She has her hands full!" Julie called. Wiress opened her mouth to yell at her friend when Beetee opened the door and smiled.

"Ah – Wiress – you didn't have to buy flowers." he stammered. He blushed as he looked at Wiress. She looked down at the bouquet before looking back up at him shyly.

"I – thought – they would look – nice – here." Wiress stammered feeling disproportionately nervous for the task at hand. Beetee adjusted his glasses and reached for the bouquet of flowers. His hands wrapped around hers.

"Thank you." he said smiling.

"I – um –" Wiress put her other hand on top of their fingers that were entwined. "You're welcome." She looked down and realized what she was doing before pulling away and stammering something at the ground. Beetee laughed and gestured for her to come in. The last thing she saw before closing the door was Julie giggling while running down the street. _I'll see her tomorrow – hopefully before she sees the rest of the academy._

"She did _what?_" Melissa asked giggling. They were in Wiress' apartment on the couch visiting the next day. Wiress' grandmother was away visiting a sick neighbor. Wiress explained Julie's antics at the craft shop and her sneaking around I-Squared. "Oh, Julie!" Melissa giggled. "You know she's the silliest of the juniors."

"Our kid sister!" Wiress quipped as she had turned eighteen two weeks after school began. Melissa turned eighteen around December, but Julie wouldn't turn eighteen until the day before Reaping Day.

"Well, I bet he did something extra-nice to deserve flowers." Melissa said getting back to the subject at hand.

"Well –" Wiress paused. "He bought me a new sweater two weeks ago. I – I guess he didn't want me to have to pay for it with my internship money."

"Aaaw!" Melissa sighed. "No – I'm not turning into Julie – but that's really sweet." Wiress smiled.

"That's why I got him – I mean – the shop flowers." Wiress turned beet red.

"Wiress – if you knew that what you said right here right now would never be spread down the halls of the academy –"

"If I told you, and not Julie then."

"Yes." Melissa said grinning sheepishly. "Um – just between you and I – do you like him?"

"Yeah." Wiress said. She realized she had never verbalized her feelings to anyone even after working more than a month at I-Squared. "Not just because he's smart and he's helping me but because – well – we've talked about – he's lost tributes and I've lost my parents – and we're both working in their memory. It's like we – we understand each other. It's weird. I keep telling myself that I've only worked with him for seven weeks and it's not logical to feel this way, but I do." Melissa nodded. She gave her friend a hug.

"Engineering has to be logical. Feelings don't have to be necessarily." Melissa said. "Between me and you, I think it would be way too cute if you graduated and became his co-inventor and later got married."

"But, Melissa, he's a Victor. I don't even know if Victors can get married." Wiress said worriedly. "And besides they have this whole other world of the Hunger Games to deal with. I can't even begin to understand that."

"Yeah." Melissa said. "Well – I'm sure you could work something out – you know – if you two got hitched." They chatted about school and other things before Melissa headed home.


	5. Chapter 5

_Wiress, I have to go to the Capital today. You can work on the project here if you would like or take a day off._ Wiress read the note and decided to go in and work. She worked on her sketch for a few hours. The phone rang and she answered it. "Innovation Squared, this is Wiress Carpenter, student intern."

"Hi, Wiress, this is Jim at Factory six." Someone on the other end said. "We were wondering if Beetee could come and take a look at one of our machines."

"Oh?" Wiress took down some information. "That sounds sort of like the machine in Four."

"The one you worked on?" Jim asked excitedly.

"Yes." Wiress said a bit timidly.

"Well, why don't you come over and have a look?" Jim suggested. "We all know the work you did in Factory Four."

"I - I can't do official consultations, sir since I'm not a certified engineer. But I can go over there and take notes for Beetee." Wiress said thinking quickly. She got some more information and wrote a note to Beetee. She grabbed a smaller notepad and hurried to Factory Six.

"So you see, when this mechanism ramps up the RPMs, there's something griding right about there." Wiress wrote something down and looked at the machine again. She adjusted her safety goggles and moved along the catwalk. "I'll get the blueprints for you and - WHOA!" Jim the lead foreman yelped as the catwalk creaked and buckled a few feet from them. "Miss Carpenter - move back!"

"You have to also!" Wiress stammered. She moved her feet and the catwalk shook more. "TURN THE MACHINE OFF!" She yelled. "THAT'S WHAT'S SHAKING IT!"

"WIRESS!" A terrified voice screamed. "WIRESS DON'T MOVE! JIM, BACK UP NOW!" The machine screeched to a halt moments before a section of the metal catwalk Wiress and Jim were previously on broke off and crashed to the ground.

"All workers are clear, Jim!" Someone called. "No one's hurt, we're getting a mechanical lift up to you now!" Someone drove a small vehicle bearing a platform on an accordian shaped lift. Pushing a button, the driver activated the lift to send the platform up to the two people on the catwalk. Wiress and Jim climbed onto the platform and held onto the railings.

"WIRESS!" Beetee wrapped her in a near bone-crushing hug. He pulled away and stared into her large eyes. "What did you think you were doing?" He asked furiously. "You were consulting on a very large piece of machinery! _Alone!_ Did you ask them to examine the area around it for safety? _Did you?_" Wiress blinked and shook her head.

"I'm - I'm sorry - Mr. Tesla - You should've handled the project." Wiress whispered as tears came to her eyes.

"Obviously because you could've gotten hurt. Go back to the shop." Beetee said sharply. Wiress hurried over to the end of the factory where she put her helmet and goggles in their proper places. Beetee could see her shaking with sobs as she pulled her coat on and hurried out the door.

"That was my fault, Beetee." Jim said gently. "I'm sorry. I asked her to come."

"Jim -" Beetee began, his face paling.

"I'm sorry, Beetee - please let your intern continue." Beetee bit his lip before walking out of the factory.

"Wiress?" Beetee asked seeing her sitting at the table, her head buried in her arms as she cried.

"Last week you said I could help you in consulting." Wiress said, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"I did. I did _not_ say you could go by yourself."

"I made it clear that I wasn't consulting. All I wanted to do was take more detailed notes." Wiress slowly pushed her notepad toward Beetee. He picked it up and tossed it over to his table.

"You of all people should realize how dangerous a factory environment is for an inexperienced high schooler! Your parents worked at a factory for twenty years and still something happened to _them!_" Beetee snapped, the image of her on the shaking catwalk still very much present in his mind.

"I KNOW! _That's why I'm here, Beetee!_" Wiress shouuted as she stood up facing him with her fists clenched at her side. "I - want to help change things - and I - I only wanted to help! I know what I was getting into! Accidents happen, Beetee! And just like you said, they happened to my parents!" Wiress took deep breaths and stared at Beetee with a mix of anger and sadness on her face. Beetee stared at her lost for words.

"You're done." Beetee said simply. Wiress stared at him.

"I'll clean up my desk later." Wiress whispered.

"Wiress - wait!" Beetee called as she walked down the street. He ran after her. She stopped and turned around to face him. "I meant for today!" Wiress turned around. "I'm so sorry -" Beetee said grasping her hands.

"You - you used my parents against me." Wiress whispered pulling her hands away. "I - I can't - I can't talk with you right now."

"I didn't mean it -" Beetee began.

" You just wanted me to get it. It's dangerous. But, I get it though."

"Please come back and finish the semester." Beetee begged. "I promise I'll give you a good letter of recommendation. In spite of everything today. I'm so sorry about today!"

"I will." Wiress said simply. "Goodbye, Mr. Tesla." She said before resuming her walk down the street.


	6. Chapter 6

Beetee walked home to Victor's Village. He picked up the first thing that he saw sitting on the coffee table in the living room and threw it against the wall. Only then did he realize it was a bouquet of fabric flowers in a now shattered glass vase. They were the very same flowers that had had been at I-Squared two weeks ago. He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. _Did I just break what Wiress and I had with one conversation? One? _He paused. _Do we even have anything or is it just my imagination? _He thought about it. She had a sweater and he had flowers that were now on the floor. Was that enough evidence of - something? And if he really wanted something to happen between them, would he really have said what he did about her parents?

He closed his eyes and the image of Wiress on the shaking catwalk of Factory Six instantly played behind his eyes. When he walked into the factory and first saw her talking with Jim, the first thing he felt was pride. Here she was, a brilliant Engineering Academy student already respected by the workers of the district. When he saw the danger she was in, fear had gripped him. He could loose his intern, one beneficiary of his scholarship, and the girl he loved. He wiped his eyes and sniffled. He truly loved her, which was why he was so furious at himself for those few careless words. He grabbed his coat and ran outside. An early March snowstorm was beginning, but he kept running. He ran to her apartment building and entered her unit number on the console where he could call up to the apartment unit through the intercom. "Carpenter residence." Mrs. Carpenter said shortly after he pushed the button.

"This is - Mr. Tesla."

"Oh, hello, young man." Mrs. Carpenter said. "Wiress isn't feeling well, son. You'll have to come back tomorrow. I'm sorry."

"It's - It's about the internship - please - I promise - I won't be long." Beetee knew he sounded desperate.

"Hold on." The intercom clicked off. Beetee shivered out of nervousness. He heard a click after what seemed like several long minutes. "She can talk for five minutes." Beetee thought he could detect a hint of smugness in Mrs. Carpenter's voice. He took the elevator to her floor and knocked timidly on the door.

Wiress was on the couch with a cup of tea. Another cup was on a coaster on the coffee table. Beetee saw her give her grandmother a bit of a glowering look as she opened the door. "Come in, oh - don't bother about your shoes if you want to keep them on!"

"No - it's ok." Beetee said. He sat down on the couch. "Is this tea mine?" he asked looking at the inviting mug of tea.

"According to Grandma." Wiress said flatly. "Yes." Beetee reached for her hand that was resting on the couch cushion. As his fingers brushed hers, she lifted her hand and wrapped it around her mug.

"Wiress, honey, I'll be vacuuming the bedroom if you need me." Mrs. Carpenter called before closing the bedroom door and starting the vacuum.

"Wiress - I honestly don't know how to apologize. But I do. I apologize." Beetee stammered. "I - I got mad - because - because I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"You'd answer to Jones. And the principal. And my other instructors. And Grandma." Wiress said.

"I mean - I don't know - Wiress - I - I didn't want you to get hurt because I care about you." Beetee said.

"Why didn't you say that at I-Squared?" Wiress asked.

"I was upset."

"That's not what I asked."

"I -" Beetee paused. "Wiress, please _please_ don't take this the wrong way." Wiress nodded and stared at him. "I would be - deeply grieved - I daresay - in a - in a very similar way that you grieved your parents - if I lost you. If I had the chance to protect you and I blew it." Wiress was silent. "I care about you. That much."

"I -" Wiress paused. She paused. "When - When I thought - you fired me - I thought - well - it hurt - a lot. To dissapoint you." Wiress looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Beetee said. Wiress looked at him hunched over clutching his tea mug. Slowly, she reached her hand out and ran her fingers down his forearm. He shivered at her touch through his sleeve. Slowly they linked hands again. They finished their tea in silence.

"Thank you for stopping by." Wiress whispered.

"Thank you for letting me." Beetee said smiling. "I'll let you get some rest, ok? I'll see you next Saturday." Wiress walked him to the door and gave him a small smile before he headed down the hallway.


	7. Chapter 7

"Morning." Wiress said at the door to I-Squared two weeks after the Factory Six incident.

"Good morning, Wiress." Beetee said. He watched as Wiress eagerly set up her work table chatting about the projects she was working on at the Engineering Academy. "You're doing the 'develop a digitally controlled motor' project, right? Jones' class? The runner-up to that final Junior year project."

"Yes – how did you know?" Wiress asked surprised. Beetee chuckled.

"I was in his advanced mechanical engineering I class at the academy." Wiress raised her eyebrows.

"Wow – he's been teaching for that long?" She asked shocked. Beetee blushed madly.

"I – well – um – well - what – what is _that_ supposed to mean?" He stammered. She giggled and blushed before hiding her face behind a manual she was reading. Beetee looked over from his table and smiled at her. He thought she was so cute when she laughed.

"Oh – I guess – it was only eight years ago." Wiress said once she recovered. "Jones did say this year would be his tenth year." She paused looking at Beetee who was smiling at her sheepishly. "Well, Einstein says that time is relative after all." She quipped causing Beetee to laugh really hard. They settled into their work day and were soon chatting about their project at hand. As Beetee watched Wiress work, he knew that he couldn't put off asking a certain question anymore.

"I um –" Beetee paused watching Wiress finish her sketch she had started the previous day. "I would like to discuss how to integrate the wiring with your design."

"Ok." Wiress said. "I'm not quite there yet. Maybe next week?"

"I mean – preliminarily." Beetee said. _Think fast, Beetee!_ He groaned. If this was a complex electromagnetic equation, he would have had it solved several minutes ago in his head. However, this challenge was a bit more formidable. "I – ah – I would like to discuss it – um – tonight."

"Ok." Wiress said. "My grandmother and I aren't doing anything this evening."

"Ok." Beetee adjusted his glasses and then rearranged his pens in his pocket-protector. He knew he just had to grit his teeth and do it. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. Wiress' confused look as she locked her large beautiful eyes on his face didn't help. "Wiress, I – I'm inviting you to dinner tonight. At my place."

"Oh." Wiress said. She smiled. "To discuss the design? I might need to get some textbooks from home."

"Well – maybe – yes – no – um – well – you don't need to go back home. Just – I mean – unless you need to tell your grandmother." Beetee stammered. Wiress smiled.

"I can go home and tell her at lunch." Wiress said smiling.

"Yeah. Sure. Ok. Sounds good." Beetee looked at his watch. It was 11:30 am. "In fact – uh – early lunch?"

"Sure." Beetee made sure Wiress was two blocks away before fist-pumping the air and cheering. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" He said using his best Caesar Flickerman impression. "Beetee Tesla is going on a DATE!"

Wiress stood at the door of Beetee's house at Victor's Village later that afternoon. Her grandmother pulled out a comb and started combing the back of her hair. "Grandma!" She yelped.

"Well, you were playing with your ribbon back there, my live-wire!" Her grandmother said chuckling. "Don't you want to look nice for this little dinner?"

"Thanks." Wiress said. She knocked on the door and it opened almost instantly.

"You must've been standing right by the door just waiting for my little live-wire, young man!" Wiress blushed a deep maroon as her grandmother chuckled and shook hands with Beetee.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Carpenter." Beetee said smiling. "When do you need her home?"

"Oh, I'd say by ten." Mrs. Carpenter said before hugging Wiresss. "You two enjoy yourselves, ok?"

"Thanks, Grandma." Wiress said. Her grandmother walked away humming happily to herself.

"Come in." Beetee said. He helped Wiress take her coat off and she took her shoes off. She was wearing a light green blouse and her black skirt from her uniform. "You look nice."

"You do too." Wiress said. Beetee had his work shirt on and had changed out of jeans into slacks. She sniffed the air. "Is that spaghetti sauce?"

"Yeah." Beetee said as he led her to the dining room table. "Would you look at that, it's boiling!" She waited while he got dinner ready. He brought out plates of spaghetti. After bringing out a basket of the usual bite-size square rolls many people in the district ate, he sat down. "Dinner is served!"

"This looks really good!" Wiress said grinning. She began eating. "What did you put in the sauce?"

"What do you mean?" Beetee asked.

"I mean – what spices?"

"I could get the can and look." Beetee replied. "Um – does your grandma make spaghetti sauce from scratch?"

"Well, when we have spaghetti. We usually eat noodles and butter with some vegetables." She nibbled on a bite. "I think I've had this sauce once before." Beetee nodded. "Do you eat this a lot?"

"Well – this or noodles in cheese sauce."

"What sort of cheese do you use?" Wiress asked curiously. She figured as a victor, he could buy the expensive sort of cheese at the store or even special-order it from somewhere.

"Uh – " Suddenly Beetee felt very embarrassed. "Cheese-sauce packets." Wiress began laughing.

"You eat Mac and Cheese!" She started giggling again. "I'm sure it tastes good though." She reached for his hand without thinking. His hand felt like a piece of metal being attracted by a magnet as he reached his hand out. Electricity shot up his arm as wrapped his fingers around hers.

"Maybe I can fix it for you sometime." Beetee said grinning. "It's easy." Wiress nodded. "Do you cook or is it just your grandmother?"

"I help." Wiress said. "We do a lot of improvising." She said. "Grandma says that it keeps her mind sharp, though." She smiled. "Grandma would love it if you came over sometime."

"Did she say that this afternoon?" Beetee asked. It was Wiress' turn to blush as Beetee began laughing. Wiress nodded. They finished their dinners and Beetee collected their plates. They went into the living room and Beetee settled onto a couch. He patted a spot next to him and Wiress joined him.

"Thanks again for dinner." Wiress said smiling.

"No problem." Beetee replied. Their hands found each other and Wiress smiled as Beetee gripped her hand in his warm clasp. "Wiress, it's been really great having you as an intern. You do amazing work." He smiled. "And you're an amazing young lady." Wiress smiled before looking at the floor. She was a bit shy when others complimented her. A light rain was starting to fall. Beetee instinctively put his arm around Wiress and pulled her closer to keep her warm. "So, any plans for the summer?"

"If Julie, Melissa, and I are still a group, we'll get jobs in the factories. Melissa's dad knows some people in the factories."

"What do you mean if your friends are still a group?" Beetee asked concerned noticing the sadness cross Wiress' face.

"One of my friends has to take out tesserae." Wiress whispered.

"Does she know about the I-Squared scholarship?" Beetee asked.

"She didn't think she needed it this year. The deadline passed already." Wiress bit her lip to keep from crying, but a tear slid down her face. Beetee cupped her face in his hand and wiped her tears away with his fingers.

"How many slips do you have in?" Beetee asked.

"Ten." Beetee nodded. _That was still ten too many._ "I only took out tesserae the year my parents died. Then – Then I got your scholarship." Beetee smiled. "Thank you."

"I hate it when you juniors are reaped." Beetee whispered. "I was your age." Wiress nodded. "You are so close and then –" He sighed. "You know, at least you have a good skill set to work off of." Wiress recognized the far-away look on his face. She knew he was thinking about his former tributes because she had the same look on her face when she was remembering her parents. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head under his chin. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Wiress said. "You can't help but remember." She noticed a technical drawing on the table and they began talking about that. The clock on the wall chimed nine times.

"I'll walk you back home." Beetee said. He helped Wiress back into her coat.

"Thank you again." Wiress said. They walked hand in hand down the quiet streets of District Three. She exchanged smiles with Beetee. They were both looking forward to more nights like these in the very near future.

* * *

A/N: Yup! If any of you recognized this as the oneshot Nerd Date, well, that's it! :D I'd say they made up nicely after the last two chapters, yeah?


	8. Chapter 8

"Hello, Little Miss Smiley!" Julie giggled as Wiress joined her friends in the cafeteria at school. "_Someone_ has been making you happy these two weeks!"

"I did really well on the project in Electrical." Wiress said smiling. Which was true. Beetee had been quite impressed when Wiress brought her project notebook to their most recent dinner date.

"Did you tell your_ Inventor Crush?"_ Julie asked bouncing up and down on her seat. Melissa bit her lip to keep from laughing at her friend.

"Yeah." Wiress said before blushing.

"On a DATE?" Julie squealed. Wiress looked at Melissa and exchanged glances. She had told Melissa about her dates, but so far hadn't told Julie. She and Beetee were keeping their relationship low-profile as Wiress still had three more weeks of her internship.

"At my internship." Wiress said. However, the blush creeping up her face betrayed her.

_"OH MY GOSH!"_ Julie squealed very _very _loudly. A group of kids playing Magic at another table stared at Wiress and her friends at Julie's outburst. _"YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH B -"_ Melissa jumped up and clapped her hand over Julie's mouth. "With your SWEETIE!" Julie squealed after yanking Melissa's hand away. _"OH MY GOSH! Is - **Sweetie** all proud of you now?"_

"Julie - seriously - _Sweetie?_ That's his code name?" Wiress asked shaking her head at her friend's silliness.

"Unless you want me to just say his real name." Julie said with an evil glint in her eye.

"Please don't." Melissa said. "Wiress wants to keep this on the DL, you know that!" Julie started giggling.

"Wiress and Sweetie - like gears in a - machiney - powered purely by love! And then they produced baby engineeries!" Julie sang making up a song on the fly. Wiress put her face in her hands. Thankfully the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Wiress ran up to her next class before Julie could tease her any more.

Thankfully the next class was advanced calculus for engineers. "In fact, Mr. Tesla informed me that he uses this equation often when he calculates electrical output in his invention work." The instructor said. Julie turned around and mouthed '_Sweetie' _to Wiress. Wiress blushed furiously. Melissa snorted down a laugh and tried to turn it into a sneeze. Just then the door opened.

"Melissa Johnson?" The principal asked gravely. "Come to the office right away, please. Your father has been in a factory accident." Wiress looked up feeling like she was socked in the stomach. She recalled that day in her second year at the academy when the principal had said a similar thing to her. Melissa gripped Wiress' hand and they left together.

"He's at the hospital." Melissa's mother said. Melissa nodded. "He needs surgery."

"I'll come with you, mom."

"We have to - Melissa - the choice is yours." Mrs. Johnson said. "I took out as much as I could out of my savings to pay the down-payment. We still are short. The doctor is giving us an hour to wire money to the hospital."

"Ok." Melissa said. Her mother bit her lip.

"Honey -" Mrs. Johnson said paling. "The only option - the only other option is for you to take out more tesserae." Melissa nodded.

"No, Melissa!" Wiress yelped. "Mrs. Johnson - I - I have an idea." She looked at the phone in the Principal's office.

"Go ahead, Wiress." The principal said giving the Johnsons a sympathetic look. Wiress' fingers trembled as she dialed a familiar number.

"Beetee?" Wiress asked. "I'm at school. It's my friend." She bit her lip. "Her - Her dad - he's been in a factory accident. He needs to go to surgery. In an hour." She paused. "Could you help her? Please?" She handed the phone to Melissa's mother.

"Hello Mr. Tesla." Mrs. Johnson said. "I appreciate your concern for our family." She paused. "Are you allowed to help ordinary citizens like this? I - are you sure? No. She won't need it next year. This year's her last one. Yes. Two. No, not for another year. I won't let them take it out. Thank - Thank you so much." She looked at Melissa. "We have another two-hundred."

"I only have to put in twenty more slips." Melissa said resolutely. "Mom - I don't know what else we can do. Aunt Mary said Gina had to take some out this year too. I don't think we can ask her." Mrs. Johnson started crying.

"Melissa - honey -" She broke down and wept holding her eighteen year-old daughter in her arms.

"Mom - Mom - it's my last reaping. Just let me do it." Melissa said. "You told me it was my choice." Wiress wrapped Melissa in a hug.

"Hey, smarty-pants," Melissa said to her friend. "Take notes for me, ok?"

"Ok." Wiress said softly. "Melissa - I'll come to the hospital after school."

"They only let family visit." Melissa said sadly.

"You can come to our house, sweetie." Mrs. Johnson said. She wrapped Wiress in a hug. "Thank you so much for your concern for us, honey."

"I - I've been there." Wiress whispered.

"I know, honey, I know." Mrs. Johnson said holding her daughter's friend. She kissed the top of her head. "Now, off you go. Melly will want your notes." Wiress nodded.

Wiress forced herself to concentrate on her classes. _He's alive. He's in surgery. He's ok._ She kept on reminding herself. However, she found herself calculating the probability of Melissa being chosen for the reaping with her additional twenty slips. True to her word, she went to Melissa's house to visit with her family. She didn't want to eat too much of their food when they set out dinner, but she took a dinner roll out of politeness.

After leaving Melissa's apartment, she ran to Victor's Village. "Hey, Wiress!" Beetee said opening the door smiling as Wiress wrapped her arms around him. He closed the door and rubbed her back whispering soothing things to her as she cried. "Hey, love, it's ok."

"I - Thank you -" Wiress looked into Beetee's face. Her tearstained puffy eyes were reflected in his glasses. "Thank you for helping my friend." Beetee nodded. "You don't have to pay me these last three weeks."

"Of course I do. You signed a contract, dear." Beetee said. He took her hands in his.

"Melissa's father needs to rest for a month and then he can work again. Not at his usual station, but he can go back. I - I honestly don't know how to thank you." Wiress stammered.

"You already did." Beetee said smiling. Wiress nodded. "Something's still bothering you." It wasn't a question.

"She - She still had to take tesserae - it's not your fault - you did what you could - but she - she has twenty more slips in." Beetee bit his lip. "She's really smart - she's stronger than she looks - she beat up this kid in fourth grade for teasing Julie and I - she -"

"Wiress -" Beetee paused. "Don't worry about her just yet." He paused. "I don't have the exact counts of everyone in the district, but every year there are some kids with over forty slips in."

"I can't let her go, Beetee." Wiress blurted out. "I -" Beetee wrapped his arms around her and put his lips to hers to stop her from saying what her eyes told him: _I'll volunteer if my friend is chosen. _

"And I want you to intern with me next school year." Beetee whispered. "You know what that means." Wiress nodded. "I'll wish that the odds are in her favor with you, baby. I promise I will." He held Wiress until she stopped crying enough to walk home.


	9. Chapter 9

"Melissa!" Wiress called as Melissa walked to the 5th Street Tesserae Administration Office. "Don't do it! I can help you! I can ask Beetee for more hours!"

"I – I can't – Wiress." Melissa said with tears in her eyes. "I can't take your wages, Wiress. Your grandma needs it." Melissa was adamant. No one else should pay for her father's supervisor's negligence that caused his factory accident.

"But – you – you can't take tesserae!" Wiress cried. "You're almost done with school! What if – what if you get reaped?"

"I – I'll worry about that later." Melissa said. She paused at the door. "Wiress – if I don't do this – we won't have money for my dad's surgery." She paused. "He won't be able to work and my little brothers still have a few years in school." Wiress waited outside the door wringing her hands. Melissa came out and they began walking home together in silence.

"Wiress – don't worry about me – ok?" Wiress nodded. Melissa turned and walked down the block. Suddenly they heard the voice of Eustacia, the escort from the Capital calling Melissa's name. As Wiress ran down the street to try and catch Melissa the scene changed to a field by a large golden cornucopia.

"MELISSA!" Wiress screamed as a large built boy from a Career district stabbed her through the chest with a sword. "MELISSA!"

"Wiress – honey – c'mon, baby, wake up." Wiress felt a hand shaking her.

"Grammy –" Wiress sat up crying. _This was the worst nightmare about Melissa yet._ Her grandmother pulled her into a hug. Mrs. Carpenter sighed. Wiress' nightmares had gotten progressively worse over the past three weeks as Reaping Day drew closer.

"I know, honey." Wiress' grandmother went to the bathroom, grabbed some tissues, and sat back down on Wiress' bed. "It's her last year, so hopefully she'll be spared. And you know – if she goes – she could win – and if she doesn't – you girls have had a good time as friends. Just remember that. If I could take this pain away, I would my little live-wire." They snuggled for a bit until Wiress' crying subsided. She went back over to her side of the room and lay down on her ancient creaky bed.

Wiress sighed. She knew other kids were worried about the reaping, but she didn't want to lose her friend after losing her parents so soon. How could anyone deal with that? She sniffled and tried to go back to sleep. She suddenly sat up. It was almost midnight, but if he was right about not being able to sleep a week before the reapings – Beetee would be up. A late-night rain-storm was soaking the streets, but she was determined to go to Victor's Village. Wiress scribbled a note to her grandmother before pulling a coat on and grabbing her boots.

Beetee was pacing his living room for the millionth time. The reaping was a day after tomorrow, and he knew his worrying would only get worse. He was jolted out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. "Wiress –" he gasped at the shivering girl in a rain-coat and boots on his doorstep.

"Beetee – I –" Wiress stammered shivering.

"Come in." Beetee shut the door behind her. He hung her coat up and gestured to the couch for her to sit down. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her to warm her up. "What's going on, Wiress?" He asked quietly

"Melissa – I'm so afraid for her - the nightmares are getting worse –" She gulped. "I can't lose her, Beetee – I can't lose her after I lost my parents. I – I can't –" Beetee held her close and rubbed her back as she broke down sobbing. "I'm sorry. I - I know you're worried about the whole district."

"Don't be sorry." He whispered rubbing her back. "You're a good friend to her, Wiress."

"I – I was worried about you too." Wiress confessed. She lay her head against his chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart. She noticed the pace increase a bit. "I – I've lost – my parents. And I may be about to lose my friend." She paused. "I don't know how I'll make it, and yet you do. Year after year, you care for tributes from our district." Wiress felt his arms tighten around her. "I thought about you. I wanted to come check on you even though I wanted you to comfort me." She looked at the floor before looking up into his face cautiously. "Does that make sense?" She asked slowly looking into his face. Her tearstained face was reflected in his glasses.

"Wiress –" Beetee began. He lifted her chin with his fingers. "We understand each other don't we?" She nodded. She could never recall who moved first, but they were softly kissing each other, wrapped in the comfort of each other's presence. "Would you like to stay here tonight? The rain won't let up until morning at least." Wiress nodded. She followed Beetee upstairs. He showed her a room with a bed in the center. To the right of it was a desk. The end of the room had floor to ceiling bookshelves that were filled with engineering manuals. A drafting table was also in the room. "Is this room ok?" Beetee asked. Wiress nodded. She lay on the bed and looked up at him. They were still holding hands.

"Yes." Wiress said. She looked around. "You – you can stay here too – if you want." Beetee lay down next to her and pulled the covers over both of them.

"We're both not alone anymore." Beetee whispered before they fell asleep.

Wiress walked home at dawn. She made breakfast for her grandmother. "Take some cookies for Melissa." Her grandmother said smiling. "I baked them while you walked home. You girls will be at Julie's house all day for her birthday?" Wiress nodded. "You give her my love, ok?" Her grandmother wrapped her in a surprisingly strong hug. "Just concentrate on today, my live-wire." She said kissing Wiress. "I'll make something special for tonight, ok?" Wiress nodded not trusting herself to talk lest she started sobbing.

They were all sprawled out on Julie's queen-sized bed going through pictures from their time at the academy. After an excellent lunch served by Julie's parents finished by Wiress' grandmother's cookies and Julie's birthday cake, they were too lethargic to do much else. They had spent the morning walking around the shopping area helping Julie spend her birthday money and then they played board games at Julie's house. "You know, even if nothing bad happens, this is still a good idea." Melissa said finishing another page to their scrapbook. "We're going to be taking a lot of pictures next year."

"Our last year." Julie said wistfully. "Then we're free!" The three girls cheered.

"Then we enter the real world." Melissa said playfully groaning.

"Then Wiress can join Beetee full time at I-Squared!" Julie squealed. "Then they can get married! Then have baby engineers and –"

"JULIE!" Wiress yelped blushing. "STOP TEASING ME!"

"But - but it's my _birthday!_" Julie playfully pouted as Melissa and Wiress rolled around on her bed laughing.

"Yeah, let them get married first." Melissa quipped. "One step at a time." They giggled again. The scrap-book came together sooner than they thought. "I have to admit, I got a lot of it done before today." She was smothered by the other girls' hugs. "You guys!" she gasped.

"We love you so much!" Julie squealed. Wiress nodded and a tear trickled down her face.

"Oh – oh – you guys –" Melissa wrapped them in a hug and they had a good long cry. "You are all way _way_ too awesome!"

"Girls?" Julie's mother asked at the door. She opened the door and smiled. "Before you all take off, I made these." The three girls gasped. Her mother had simple stainless steel thin chains with small gear pendants on them. Etched in the gear were the initials of the three girls. Melissa, Julie, and Wiress exchanged glances. _District tokens._ "There." She said after she clasped one around each girl's neck. "You'll have matching necklaces for your senior year. And for tomorrow." They nearly smothered her in another group hug and tears. "Ok, girls. Dry your eyes. I have to get a picture." She snapped several pictures before going to her home office and printing it. "There." She handed them each a picture. It was with great reluctance that Wiress and Melissa left Julie's house for their respective homes.

"You guys have to eat with your families, silly! I'll see everyone tomorrow!" Julie said shaking her head. "Thanks again for spending the whole day with me." She smiled and wrapped them in another group hug. "You two are the best friends ever!"


	10. Chapter 10

"Wiress, I found this." Her grandmother said the morning of Reaping day. She combed out Wiress' dark shoulder-length hair and put half of it in a ponytail before securing a silver ribbon in it. "There. It will match your necklace." They walked down to the town square where Wiress found Julie and Melissa and joined them in line. They gave their names and stood in the eighteen year-olds section.

"There's _Sweetie__!" _Julie whispered in Wiress' ear as Beetee climbed the stage and sat next to the Mayor. She received an elbow in the side for her remark.

"You girls? _Girls?_" Melissa asked urgently.

"Yes?" Wiress and Julie asked.

"You two know the pact."

"Yes." Wiress said.

"I mean it. Say it. Right here right now." Melissa grasped both of their hands and held them in vice-like grips while staring hard into their eyes.

"If one of us is reaped, the others do not volunteer. That's our pact." Julie stammered.

"Wiress?" Wiress' throat was dry. _"Wiress?"_ Melissa pleaded. Tears came to Wiress' eyes.

"If – you're reaped – Melissa – or Julie – you'll hate me forever if I volunteer." Wiress stammered. "Same if – Julie or I get chosen. We'd – yeah. We don't volunteer for each other." She paused. "Because none of us could live with sending our friends to their deaths."

"Good." Melissa said. She faced forward and gripped her friends' hands again. The Mayor's speech went all too quickly. Eustacia the escort strutted around the stage on her five-inch heels and ridiculous Capital costume.

"Ladies first!" She trilled waving her carefully manicured hand in the reaping ball.

Wiress closed her eyes. Melissa took a deep breath and held it. Julie on the other hand was nearly hyperventilating. Wiress forced herself to take even breaths. She squeezed Melissa's hand reassuringly. Looking up at the spinning reaping ball, she knew that many of the slips in there had her friend's name on them. A tear trickled down her face. _Melissa won't go._ She thought. Even though, she repeated the pact with tears in her eyes, she knew that her gut reaction would be to volunteer. Melissa had said that she couldn't live with one of them volunteering for her. Yet Wiress knew that she couldn't live with watching her friend going to her death while she stood by and watched.

The reaping ball stopped turning and Eustacia reached in with perfectly manicured nails. Melissa let out a shaky breath. Julie and Wiress gave her hands another gentle squeeze. Wiress took a breath and straightened her posture ready to do what she had to do.

"Wiress Carpenter!" Eustacia called.


	11. Chapter 11

Time and space are supposed to be on a continuum. Yet for a split second, time stopped, and the space around Wiress seemed to shatter. She saw the faces in the crowd in one fragment of her vision. She looked up and saw the soot-filled sky. The midmorning sun was shining on her, yet she felt cold. She couldn't hear Eustacia repeating her name, but she heard her heart beating. Wiress shook her head at her friends before letting go of their hands. Slowly made her way to the stage. _Head high, shoulders back, just like we practiced at home._ Her grandmother's voice reminded her. Instead of climbing the stage to receive an award, Wiress was walking to almost certain death.

"Are there any volunteers?" Eustacia asked as Wiress began climbing the stage. She paused on the stage and Eustacia's question was met with silence. "Very well then!" Wiress walked to Eustacia. Not knowing what to do, she held out her hand.

"Lovely, lovely to meet you dear!" Eustacia said shrilly shaking Wiress' hand. "Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us what you are you most excited about for this year's Hunger Games?" Wiress looked out at the crowd. Some of the younger teens were wearing their engineering academy sweaters. The academy uniform was a popular reaping outfit if a student had no other nice clothes.

"I'm Wiress Carpenter." Wiress said evenly into the microphone. "I'm excited to represent the Engineering Academy of District Three." Suddenly she saw her two friends raise their right hands in the air, palms facing out, their middle and ring-fingers forming a V. It was their district sign for goodbye and a sign of honor. Soon her other classmates at the Engineering academy were giving her the district sign followed by the whole crowd. Wiress made the sign back at the crowd. "Thank you, Engineering Academy. Thank you, District Three." She handed the microphone back to Eustacia.

"Yes! Well done!" Eustacia squealed. "Isn't this day so exciting?" She was oblivious to the glares she was getting from the crowd. She picked the boy tribute's name. "Terrance Ironsmith!" Eustacia called. A boy came out of the sixteen year old section. He looked strong but not overly built like a Career tribute. Eustacia called for volunteers but there were none. He walked to the stage in a similar manner as Wiress and shook Eustacia's hand. "What are you most excited about for this year's Hunger Games?" Eustacia asked.

"Dunno." Terrance said lightly. "I haven't exactly left the district yet, have I?" A few people chuckled. "Hm – well – I suppose with Beetee as my mentor – things might get – _electrifying!_" In spite of herself, Wiress laughed along with the crowd. Terrance winked and gave everyone a thumbs-up.

"Well – tributes, shake hands!" Eustacia called. Terrance and Wiress shook hands. Wiress gave Terrance a small smile. "Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

_No! PLEASE – FOR THE LOVE OF PANEM – NO! _ Beetee's mind screamed when Wiress's name was called. He was moved to tears when the students of the academy followed quickly by the whole district saluted her. He had to look strong for the camera, but inside, he was cracking. The young woman he had fallen in love with was going to die. _I can't think like that._ He thought. _Beetee, if there was any time you don't give up on a tribute, now_ _is the time!_ His brain screamed at him. _She's not just 'a tribute.'_ The heart-broken side of his brain wailed. _Yes. That's why you do not give up!_ He clenched his fists and took deep breaths as Eustacia finished the reapings. He wouldn't give up on Wiress. He would do whatever he could to bring her home.

* * *

A/N: I got the district sign from some other people who have used the same gesture in their D3 stories.

Also, from here, Beetee and Wiress' relationship becomes more intense. This is where elements of Breathe by NutsandVolts are adapted to the story. I figured I had to build up to it with the previous chapters.

Poor Beetee.


	12. Chapter 12

"WIRESS!" Julie and Melissa burst through the door of the small reception room in the Justice Building before burying Wiress in a group hug.

"I kept on thinking about our pact, but I wanted to volunteer." Melissa sobbed. "It should've been me, Wiress – I'm – I'm so sorry."

"No, Melissa. I would've been here even if your name got called." Wiress admitted. Julie sobbed and held her friends closer. "I'll never ever forget you guys."

"You HAVE to come home!" Julie wailed. "The academy won't be the same without you! You _will_ come home, Wiress!" She said determinedly. "You – Someone who loves you will make sure of it."

"I – Thanks, Julie." Wiress said smiling. "Tell you what, I'll let you tease me for a month after I get back if you're right."

"Thanks – thanks for being the best friend ever." Melissa said smiling.

"Thanks for being there for me too, girls." Wiress whispered. They hugged each other again.

"Wiress, we're going to go so you have a lot of time with your grandma." Julie said. "Listen – whatever happens, be true to yourself, ok?"

"Ok." Wiress said. She smiled and waved as her friends left the room with their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Oh my little live-wire!" Wiress hugged her grandmother as she was wrapped in a vice-like hug. She felt a wet kiss on each of her cheeks. "Honey – you'll be the smartest one there." She smiled. "You've done so much here with your work. I'm so proud of you, no matter what happens, ok?"

"Grandma –" Wiress began. "Thanks – for everything." They sat with their arms around each other until they heard a knock at the door.

"Oh – you don't have to leave yet Mrs. Carpenter." Mr. Jones from the Engineering Academy said. "Hi, Wiress." He said smiling. "I had to say – I had to come and see the top scoring junior." He said choosing his words carefully.

"I – I wish I could have finished my certification." Wiress said sadly.

"You still can." Mr. Jones said. "You'll get help from another engineer that went to the Capital and then came back to complete his schooling. This is just another complex problem that you'll be solving with that phenomenal brain." He smiled. "You'll go far. Trust me." He smiled. "We'll be watching from the academy. Your friends, us faculty, and your grandmother."

"Thank you." Wiress said.

"It's been such an honor to teach you, Wiress." Mr. Jones said. A peacekeeper knocked on the door. Wiress let go of her grandmother and teacher. Wordlessly they gave each other the district hand sign as the door closed.

Wiress sat in her room in the train watching the scenery fly by. Beetee was talking with Terrance in his room. She looked through the drawers on her bedside table and found a small pad of paper and a pen. Pulling up a chair to the table she began brainstorming. _Training_. She thought about what she would need to know. _Survival. Traps. Weapons. _She thought and under traps wrote _Electricity._ She flipped the page and wrote: _Traps – improvisational tools._ _Branches, rope, rocks_… "There you are." She looked up from her work. Beetee was at the door looking in on her. He smiled, but his eyes were filled with sadness.

"Hi, Beetee." She said turning around on her chair.

"What's this?" Beetee asked looking at her paper.

"Just thinking." Beetee put the pad back down on the table and took her hands in his. "I'm thinking about how we can solve this."

"This was a problem I never wanted to solve – you being here." Beetee whispered.

"I know." Wiress said softly. "What did you do on the train?"

"Punched a hole in the wall." Beetee said chuckling darkly. "I showed Terrance. He's resting. He was up partying with his friends last night. Good kid. Good ally." He said. Wiress nodded. "You're spot on with your paper there. Take it with you to the Training Center and we'll talk about it before you go to training."

"I will." Wiress said smiling before noticing Beetee looking longingly at the bed. "Do the mentors have quarters on the train?" Beetee nodded. He failed to mention that he hardly ever spent time there. She saw a flash of pain cross his face. "You hate them." It wasn't a question.

"I hate coming back to them – on an empty train back to Three." Beetee's hand twitched in Wiress'. "Sorry." he whispered not wanting to appear weak in front of his tributes.

"Lay down. You look tired. I'll wake you up if someone comes in." Wiress said. Beetee nodded and lay on the soft bed. Wiress gently took his glasses off his face and kissed his forehead.

"I should be taking care of _you_, Wiress." Beetee murmured.

"You are." Wiress said before laying down and snuggling against Beetee.

After an hour nap, Beetee opened his eyes to find Wiress sleeping peacefully next to him. "I need to get back to my mentoring duties." He whispered in her ear before kissing her. "I'll wake you when we get to the Capital." He walked into the living room car to find Terrance enthusiastically eating a six-inch long ham and cheese sandwich.

"Where were you, man?" Terrance asked before swallowing. "Eustacia finally stopped screeching my ear off about her stupid parties and went to plaster make-up on her face."

"I was talking with Wiress your district partner." Beetee said smiling at the sixteen year-old tribute. "Oh, and I took a nap."

"Glad you're up, man. Eustacia told me how to order food, but other than that she's sorta useless. You know what I mean?"

"I thought that when I was reaped. But she can be useful in her own way. I'd still do what she says."

"Holy mother of Panem's President!" Terrance exclaimed. "How _old_ is she? _Dang?_ She was at _your_ reaping?" Beetee blushed. "Oh – sorry man – No disrespect, but I guess since you mentored my sister three years ago, you seem old." He pushed a plate of fries toward Beetee.

"I _feel_ old sometimes." Beetee admitted. Terrance laughed. "Hanging around you teenagers makes me feel young." He blatantly lied.

"Seriously?" Terrance asked. "I thought seeing so much cannon fodder would make you feel a million years old." He finished off his sandwich. "Don't worry, man. I plan on keeping everyone's spirits up for the next few days. I guess that's how I want to be remembered."

"Why not be remembered as a victor?" Beetee asked concerned.

"I dunno." Terrance said soberly. "I guess I'd walk out of there wondering, 'Why me, and not my sister?' That would haunt me a lot. As in, I don't know if I want to have that hanging over me. You even told us that she trained really hard. She made herself learn _everything._ She wasn't in the academy, but she was smart. But she was still taken down by those stupid mutts and the Career pack. I know my parents would say that they would be proud of me, but they would wonder – why me and not her – ya know?"

"Imagine if the roles were reversed." Beetee said softly. "Imagine if she won."

"HECK YEAH! Oh – sorry."

"And imagine if you got reaped. And you didn't make it."

"Oh – Oh shoot. I guess it would be worse for her. Because she'd mentor like you. But – ok. yeah." Terrance said. "I _did_ tell the parents I'd try."

"_Will_ you try?"

"Yeah." Terrance said. "Of course. In the meantime, I'm going to kick back, not let the Capital get me down, and eat food." Beetee chuckled and ordered them some cheesecake. Wiress came out and joined them just as the train attendant set the dessert on the table.

"Here you go." Beetee said cutting his slice in half. Wiress smiled as he pushed their plate toward her.

"Don't you want your own slice so you're not mooching off our mentor?" Terrance asked.

"I – I'll start with this for now." Wiress said smiling and blushing. Terrance gave her a thumbs-up as he had taken a large bite of cake. He continued to shovel down his cake so he wouldn't say something about his district partner and mentor discretely holding hands under the table.

"Well, here we go!" Terrance said as he and Wiress walked to their respective rooms in the training center where they would meet their prep teams. "You just let me know if I smudge my," He struck a ridiculous pose, "Hawt red lipstick!" He finished in a high-pitched Capital accent.

"I will." Wiress said giggling. "I'm sure you'll look awesome." She felt apprehensive about the prepping process. She was satisfied with the way she was now: simple and known for her intellect. She loathed the idea that the Capital would strip her down and put something ridiculous on her because looks were everything to them. Some tributes gave the prep team a hard time, but she was quiet and let them do their thing.

"I seriously look like I could power a factory back home with all this!" Terrance yelped looking at his costume covered with illuminated fiber-optics several hours later. He and Wiress were standing on their chariot waiting for the opening ceremonies to begin.

"Actually, I think the fibers are connected to a standard nine or twelve-volt battery." Wiress said. Their costumes were an adapted suit and skirt that looked like metal plates covered with wires.

"Thanks my engineering district partner. You look nice by the way." Terrance said looking at Wiress' dark hair that was curled and put up in an up-do with more fiber optics woven through her hair. Wiress nodded her thanks and refrained from rubbing the make-up that felt caked to her face. "Oh – and by the way, I think I really am wearing lipstick." Terrance said blushing.

"Lip gloss." Wiress partially lied looking at the glittery lipstick that was on Terrance's lips. "It's just to keep them from drying out." They held hands and waved enthusiastically to the crowd. "Let's give our sign. To everyone back home." Wiress whispered. When Ceasar Flickerman called out their names, they both raised their right hands in their district sign before going back to the smiling and waving routine. They knew the act of being sullen would indicate the Capital had taken away their hope and spirits even before they had set foot in the arena.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Here's where elements of "Breathe" by NutsandVolts begin to come in. As I said earlier, this story is where I got the idea for Beetee and Wiress to have a bit of an intense relationship before her Games. It seems logical to build up to it in the previous chapters. Wiress also keeps her geeky-nerdy way she thinks, so she doesn't become completely emotional during training. :) Enjoy!

* * *

Wiress?" Beetee asked. He knocked on the door to her room. He, Eustacia, and the two tributes had watched the chariot ride and had began taking notes on the other tributes. After letting Terrance and Wiress change, Beetee wanted to meet with them briefly one more time before they turned in for the evening.

"Beetee?" She asked before he opened the door.

"Oh – do you want me to come back?" He asked sheepishly as Wiress stood standing in front of her mirror combing her hair. She was naked apart from a satin camisole and underwear. Wiress quickly threw on a robe and cinched it at the middle. She wrapped her arms around herself.

"No." Wiress whispered. She sat on her bed and looked at him. They were both blushing. Beetee closed the door and sat by her. She leaned against him and began crying.

"What's wrong, honey?" He asked rubbing her back before wrapping his arms around her slender form.

"They – I've been stripped down. By the prep-team" Wiress said between her tears. "I'm not – I'm not me. They don't want – me." She looked up as he wiped her tears away with his fingers. "They want the fully polished made-up me – not who I am. Beetee, I'm going to die a shell of who I am – for – them –"

"Wiress – no." Beetee whispered as he felt an invisble hand wrap around his heart. "Listen to me –" He traced her jaw with his hands and held her closely. "You are not going to die."

"Statistically, I am." Wiress whispered.

"Statistically you're in the 98th percentile in everything. Why should here be any different?" Beetee asked.

"Because – " Wiress pulled away. "I just told you. I'm not me."

"Not to them." Beetee said. "Not when you're trying to get sponsors. No one's really themselves." He paused. "But I know a smart analytical quick-thinking girl is going to enter the arena and completely blow the statistics out of the water."

"Have you seen that before?" Wiress whispered, her eyes wide.

"No." Beetee said honestly. He locked eyes with her. "But I've seen you and I know you." He said. "Wiress, I love you. I want you for who you are." Wiress gasped when they kissed as she felt the passion in Beetee's kiss. She shivered as his kisses became more urgent knowing that she wanted him too.

"Beetee?" Wiress asked sleepily from among her pillows and blankets strewn around on her bed. One particular pillow smiled as he dozed on his back on the bed. Wiress wrapped her arms and legs around Beetee as he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. She smiled as he ran his finger along one of the straps of her camisole.

"Hm?"

"You were going to check on Terrance ten minutes ago." She said tracing patterns on his face and down his neck. He smiled at her. "Beetee, I'm not your only tribute."

"I know." Beetee whispered. "Do you want me to come back here?" Wiress thought about it. She leaned against his shoulder and kissed him lightly.

"I'm – I'm not – I don't know." Wiress said blushing.

"That's ok. You just get me if you need me tonight." Beetee said. He got out of bed and pulled his shirt and slacks back on.

"Nice robot boxers." Wiress quipped. Beetee laughed.

"I'm glad those made your evening." Beetee chuckled before they kissed again. "Sleep well, love."

"You too." Wiress whispered. "I love you." Beetee folded her robe and placed it on a chair next to her bed before turning off the light. He opened the door and took one last look at Wiress as the lights from the hallway illuminated her resting form.

He walked by Terrance's room and heard loud snoring. He felt a bit guilty for spending so long with Wiress and not saying good night to her district partner. He wrote a note saying that if Terrance needed anything to come to the room marked Mentor. He also wrote as an afterthought that all food items including dessert were available from room service 24 hours a day if Terrance felt hungry. He had eaten through three plates of food, but if memory served Beetee correctly, Terrance's sixteen year-old stomach may still demand more in the wee hours of the morning. Knowing his tributes were both sleeping peacefully, he retired to his room more relaxed than he usually was at the start of the Games. They were strong inside and out. He knew they had a real chance of going far.


	14. Chapter 14

"WIRESS!" Terrance pounded on his district partner's door. "GET UP! YOU GOTTA COME SEE THIS!" Wiress opened the door and was surprised to see Terrance literally bouncing with excitement. "They have like the ULTIMATE MEGA BREAKFAST BUFFET OF AWESOME!" Wiress came out of her room and laughed. Indeed, two large tables were along two walls holding juices, pastries, fruits, cereals, breakfast meats, and eggs fixed in various styles.

"Wow! Was it just you setting it up?" Wiress asked a young Capital attendant who was straightening the stack of napkins. She shrugged. Terrance poked her and made a motion of zipping his lips closed. "Oh – sorry." Wiress whispered to her before grabbing a porcelain plate and filling it.

"Oh yeah! OH YEAH!" Terrance exclaimed happily as he filled his plate. "Beetee said load up on the protein. Remember from last night?"

_Last night._ Wiress thought. She smiled thinking of her time with Beetee after the chariot ride. "Oh – oh yeah he did." Wiress said quietly still deep in thought. "Um – Terrance – You're taking all this surprisingly well."

"Yeah." Terrance said around a large mouthful of food. "C'mon, when they feed you like _this_ who can't?" He swallowed. "No – don't worry, I've had a heart to heart with Beetee about some stuff. But I mean think about it – honestly, do you _want_ the people pushing you around to see you upset?" He asked the last bit barely above a whisper.

"No." Wiress said.

"There ya go." Terrance said. He watched Wiress eating dantily. "Seriously, Wiress, you're not going to bulk up eating all dainty-like_._ Do you think you're on a _date_ or something?" Beetee chose that moment to walk into the dining room. Wiress blushed darkly causing Terrance to howl with laughter.

"I – was – before." Wiress stammered staring at Beetee as he was getting his food. "Hi, Beetee." She said smiling. Beetee sat down with his tributes. He placed a muffin on a plate at Eustacia's place next to him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you." Beetee said. His heart melted as Wiress smiled at him. "Hungry are you?" He asked playfully as Wiress put a rather large scoop of eggs in her mouth. She giggled and blushed while covering most of her face with a napkin. "Good. You both are eating well this morning." Eustacia joined them fifteen minutes later. She told the Capital Attendant who was monitoring their buffet what she wanted for tea before sitting down next to Beetee.

"I'm pleased to say that you two both did well with the chariot ride." Eustacia said smiling. "You have more sponsors than I'd expect from a non-career district. In fact, you have more sponsors than I've seen in the past five years." She looked at Terrance who was drinking his orange juice and club-soda mix loudly with a straw. "Terrance – you have more sponsors than your sister did when she was here! Isn't that exciting?" Wiress tried to hide the horrified look from her face at the realization that Terrance's parents had to send another child to the Games. Terrance gave a look of mock surprise before leaning diagonally to get as close to Eustacia as he could. He took a deep breath and belched in her face. Wiress began laughing. She looked over at Beetee who was chuckling.

"Thank you! Ladies – and gentleman! Thank you!" Terrance said sitting back. Their attendant had to put Eustacia's tea-tray on the buffet table as she was also doubling over with silent laughter. "A young man is always pleased to know when his burps are appreciated!"

"Honestly –" Eustacia muttered disgusted before taking the tea-tray placed near her breakfast. "Scrambled eggs and some strawberries, please." She said to the attendant. "Well, Beetee should thank me for talking up your performance last night to your sponsors if _this year_ you can make it past day one." Wiress looked across the table at Beetee who had his jaw clenched. He was clutching his sliverware in a white-knuckled grip. She reached out and lightly brushed the back of his right hand with her left hand. He moved his hand and began eating.

"Beetee – do you have any tips on training?" Wiress asked timidly.

"Plants and survival. Both of you." Beetee said. "Terrance, strength training for you today. Wiress, work on traps and then simple light weapons if you have time today." His experession softened. "You can observe the other tributes using them. Think about their mechanics and the physics of their use before you train, ok?" Wiress nodded. "Eat up." Eustacia started talking about sponsorship parties and what she could and couldn't tell them about the training. Terrance and Wiress took Beetee's cue to not respond to Eustacia.

"Terrance, I'll be right down." Wiress said as Terrance beckoned her to come to the elevator at the end of the living room.

"Well, hurry up! I want you two walking in together!" Eustacia called. She huffed and pushed the button to the elevator before boarding with Terrance. Wiress watched as the doors slid closed before wrapping her arms around Beetee's waist.

"Honey, I know you'll do great." Beetee said before kissing her. "They can't take away your intelligence." Wiress nodded. "I have faith in you. Both of you."

"Thank you." Wiress said simply. She stared into his eyes. They still looked sad. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair before pulling her close. They kissed with more urgency.

"You can't be late." Beetee said cupping her face in his hands when he realized that several minutes had passed. "I'll see you this evening." Wiress nodded. In the elevator, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and then tried to straighten her hair that Beetee's fingers had tangled in several minutes ago.

"What were you doing up there?" Eustacia asked staring annoyed at Wiress.

"Talking. Strategy." Wiress said. "Um – Beetee said he wanted me to keep some things in mind that I learned from the engineering academy."

"Ok." Terrance said simply, though he said it with a hint of doubt. His eyes lingered on Wiress' mussed hair and slightly swollen lips. "Right. Let's go, Wiress." They counted to three and opened the Training Center doors before walking confidently in.

"You made flash-cards?" Terrance asked shocked. "Geez, smarty-pants!" He teased.

"What did you think I was doing with a pencil and paper, Terrance?" Wiress asked. She shuffled the pieces of paper and handed the stack to him. "Quiz me."

"Let's eat first." Terrance said. Wiress nodded. She was glad Terrance was absorbed in inhaling his lunch as the lull in the conversation gave her time to think about Beetee. She knew they were getting closer, but she couldn't just suddenly act like they didn't have feelings for each other. It wasn't logical, but she would continue to love him until she died – probably in the arena next week. She sighed.

"I'm done! I'm done!" Terrance said laughing. He looked at the far-away expression on Wiress' face. "What's up?" He asked concerned.

"Nothing." Wiress said even though Terrance gave her a knowing look.

"I can be empathetic when I want to." Terrance said quietly. "I'm not all class clown."

"I know, Terrance." Wiress said quietly. "I – it's just complicated." Terrance nodded. He began quizzing Wiress on the plants they learned that morning.

They went back to training and Terrance lifted some weights. He was strong from working in the factory. When he felt satisfied with how much he could lift, he went to the hand to hand combat station. He saw Wiress watching other tributes using weapons. She would jot down notes every now and then. He wondered what Beetee had talked about with her before she came down to training. He was sort of jealous that they knew each other before the Games. However, he gave them credit. They weren't snobby engineers that flaunted their intelligence in front of the poor guy who worked in the factory. Beetee had spent a fair amount of time with him last night discussing strategy and about his sister's games. He knew he would work hard in her memory to hold his own.


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm really hungry!" Wiress gasped as she filled up her plate at dinner. She began eating a dinner roll as she sat down. Terrance joined her with a plate of food in each hand. Eustacia sat down and told the attendant what she wanted.

"Well, you're doing a bit more than sitting at a desk working equations all day, Wiress." Terrance quipped. Wiress blushed.

"Engineers do more than just work equations!" Wiress yelped. "Sometimes we go out to the worksites and check on stuff." She looked at Beetee. "We went to Factory Six my last day of I-Squared and walked around the whole thing."

"How long was your internship there?" Terrance asked.

"One semester." Beetee replied. He smiled at Wiress who insitinctively reached out and wrapped her hand around Beetee's across the table.

"What do you need, Wiress?" Eustacia asked. Both she and Terrance stared at Wiress and Beetee's linked hands.

"Um – Salt please." Wiress said blushing furiously. She jerked her hand back a second before Beetee handed her the salt shaker. "Thanks." She put a tiny amount on her potatoes and then put it back. She ignored the questioning eyes of Terrance and Eustacia as she ate. Terrance filled the awkward silence by slurping his spaghetti noodles as loudly as he could.

"Really." Eustacia huffed staring at Terrance who was continuing to eat as loudly as he could.

"Yes, Eustacia, the Capital food is _really_ good!" Terrance quipped. Everyone laughed, but they couldn't quite get rid of the awkwardness that had settled around the table. "Especially after lifting weights and doing hand to hand combat in the afternoon!"

"Oh good." Beetee said. "That's a good start to training, son."

"Thanks." Terrance said. "Any pointers for tomorrow?"

"Continue with combat training and traps. Have you and Wiress discussed strategy? Are you working together?" Terrance and Wiress looked at each other.

"Isn't that what Three usually does?" Wiress asked.

"Yeah, Wiress, I would totally work with you for a glorious few hours." Terrance quipped. He looked at Beetee and gulped at the glare he was getting from his mentor. "Sorry sir – I –" Terrance gulped. "I shouldn't joke about that." Wiress bit her lip and looked at Beetee who was glaring at Terrance.

"Beetee – he was just joking." Wiress stammered. "I think Terrance would make a nice partner." The anger washed from Beetee's face, but the sadness didn't. "We will do our best. I promise." Her eyes locked onto his and said what she couldn't verbalize. _I will do my best for the man I love._

"I know I can't laugh away the Games." Terrance said. "My sister went in with her head held high and she promised in her interview that she wouldn't let the Games break her. I am doing the exact same thing." He finished his food and stood up. "Dessert anyone?"

"The pudding looks good." Wiress said thinking about her protein intake. "Beetee?"

"I'm not hungry." Beetee said sullenly.

"Are you sure?" She asked worriedly. She was itching to hold his hand across the table and whisper comforting loving words to him, but she knew she couldn't with everyone else present. Beetee sighed. "Beetee?" She whispered gently.

"I want you and Terrance to talk strategy for a good hour." Beetee said before leaving the table. "Eustacia, we need to talk sponsorship."

"Oh - I have a party in two hours – can it wait until tomorrow? I'll have a better picture –"

"No! Hurry up with your damn makeup and then come into my study. I want to know where my tributes stand. Tonight!" Beetee said angrily pushing his chair back and stomping down the hallway.

Terrance let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "What's with Beetee?" Wiress shrugged. "Wiress, you know." Wiress looked down at her plate and tears came to her eyes. "What's going on with you and Beetee?" Terrance asked. "We should get that cleared up before we get into strategy."

"I – he's – he was my internship supervisor last semester." Wiress began.

"We know." Terrance said. "And?" Wiress shrugged and stirred her pudding. "Hey, Wiress," Terrance said after a pause. "I'm not an engineer ok, but I know you plus Beetee equals something going on." he chuckled. "My sister had a boyfriend, ok? And she acted just like you. Is Beetee your boyfriend?" Wiress nodded. "District partner secret." He held his hand out. She shook it and felt something wet against her palm.

"TERRANCE!" She yelped as ice-cream dripped from her fingers. Terrance burst out laughing.

"YES! I outsmarted an ACADEMY girl!" He cheered. "You were so distracted you were totally oblivious to me slapping ice-cream _all over my hand_ in plain sight! Ok – First, you off in la-la 'I'm thinking about my boyfriend' is totally not going to work, ok? I need your brains. You're the engineer."

"Ok." Wiress said smiling. "I – I could use your strength."

"Brains plus muscles."

"You're – you're not just muscles." Wiress said. "You're – you're really nice."

"Thanks." Terrance said. "Ok, so, what are you doing in training tomorrow?"

"More traps. And more survival. And weapons if I have time. Beetee helped me go over the vector diagrams that I drew when I was observing the other tributes." Wiress said.

"Wow. I haven't drawn a vector diagram since Manufacturing Physics aka factory worker physics." Terrance laughed. "Only an engineer would think about physics durng training." Wiress giggled a bit. They chatted at the table while nibbling on desserts. True to his word, Beetee came back. Terrance suddenly felt awkward as if he was the third wheel. He reminded himself that he sort of was. Even though it was awkward knowing that his district partner and his mentor were in some sort of romantic relationship, he was pleased that it wasn't cutting into the help both he and Wiress were getting for the Games.

* * *

A/N: Yes, the district partner finding out about Team Nerds is also adapted from "Breathe" I'm sure in real life, it would be more angsty, but I am not as good as NutsandVolts with writing angst.


	16. Chapter 16

"So tomorrow you'll actually try some weapons after observing the other tributes today? You drew out those vector diagrams." Beetee asked. Wiress nodded. They were talking in Wiress' room. "Good."

"Beetee – did it feel weird – working with weapons knowing that – you'd kill someone." Wiress asked hesitantly. Beetee nodded. "I – I don't want to be –" She was overcome with a mix of emotions and looked at the floor.

"You don't want to be a killer like me." Beetee finished looking at the floor and then away from Wiress. "It changes you, Wiress."

"I – I just keep thinking – you managed somehow – and you – you still have – love." Beetee shivered as Wiress took his hand.

"Wiress –" Beetee whispered. "You think it's love?" He felt her arms go around him before she buried her face in his neck.

"Yes." Wiress whispered. "You care about all your tributes. You set up that scholarship. You took me in as an intern. You – You're still you."

"Sometimes I don't know about that." Beetee admitted.

"You're the Beetee I love." Wiress said before pressing her lips to his. "I – I love you too." Wiress managed to say before they were wrapped up in each other's passionate kisses again. They lay down on her bed. "Beetee?" Wiress asked cautiously as Beetee rubbed her back. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself back a bit to look into his eyes that were filled with desire. "I – I don't –" She paused. "I don't want to take anything away from you."

"What do you mean, Wiress?" Beetee asked looking at Wiress' eyes that couldn't hide her sadness behind her love for him.

"I don't want to die and take a piece of you with me." Wiress whispered as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Correction." Beetee said wiping tears away with his thumbs before kissing the rest of her tears away. "I don't want you to leave without you knowing exactly how much I love you. Even if we just have right now." He paused. "Do you want to know?" Wiress smiled at him.

"I think I know already." Wiress whispered. "I – I want you too, Beetee." With that, they gave each other a few hours where the world of the Hunger Games seemed to shatter under the force of their love.

"Beetee?" Wiress asked sleepily. Beetee smiled at her with his eyes still closed. "Beetee, love, wake up." Wiress shook him harder.

"What's wrong, baby?" Beetee asked kissing her on her face and neck. He looked at the clock on the wall realizing he had been there for over two hours.

"You're still in my room." Wiress whispered blushing. Beetee put a hand to her cheek and chuckled at its warmth. "I think Eustacia's home." Beetee sat up as Wiress turned on the lamp next to her bed. He pulled on his clothes cursing under his breath. The door to the bathroom closed before they could hear Eustacia's heels clacking on the stone floor. "Go!" Wiress whispered leading him to the door.

"I love you –" Beetee managed one more kiss before Wiress pushed him into the hallway.

"I know." Wiress whispered before hurriedly closed the door. She climbed back into bed and shivered in the absence of Beetee's warmth. She rolled around and tried to sleep. However, she felt an acute absence of the piece of her that was now with Beetee. Even though he was only in the other room, she knew that if she didn't return from the arena, she would have left less whole. _Beetee._ Tears streamed down her face. She had a piece of him that would also die if she died in the arena. She wrapped the blankets around herself but couldn't stop shivering. This went on for an hour. _Great. Training is tomorrow._ She stared at the clock and calculated the time in binary code. It was 1 am. She rolled over yet again before walking around and then plopping back down on her bed. She was startled by a knock on her wall sometime around 2:30am.

"Hey, Wiress!" Terrance called through the heating vents that connected the rooms. "You guys broke a spring or two in your mattress! Just FYI. I can hear it in my room. I can hear lots of things through these vents as a matter of fact –"

"**_Terrance_** – _What are you doing still up?"_ Wiress shrieked horrified.

"Well, the people in the neighboring bedroom were making a racket and then I keep hearing this spring squeaking whenever you roll around or get up or down –" Wiress ran to the closet and pulled out random clothes. She unscrewed the grate over the heating vent and started shoving bundles of clothes down it until she couldn't hear Terrance's chuckles anymore. The manual labor of plugging the vent between the rooms made her sufficiently tired enough to crawl under her blankets and sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

"Oh come on. You need more than _that_." Terrance said to Wiress as she walked away from the buffet with a muffin and a small scoop of eggs.

"I'll be fine, Terrance." Wiress said. Terrance shrugged.

"Suit yourself, but you burned _way_ more calories than I did last night." Wiress choked on her food and glared at Terrance. "The night attendant was kind enough to give me some ear plugs so tonight I can sleep in sweet sweet oblivion." Just then Beetee came into the dining room.

"Good morning, Wiress and Terrance."

"Good morning." They said in tandem. Terrance found he couldn't meet his mentor's or his district partner's eyes after what he had overheard during the night. Terrance inhaled the eggs and sausage on his plate before hastily going to the buffet to refill his plate.

"You need to eat more, hon." Beetee whispered to Wiress. She reached across the table and grasped his hand in hers, lacing her fingers around his. She gasped as he wrapped his hand tightly around hers. Both mentor and tribute knew they were two magnets made more powerful by their union and thus felt more compelled to cling to each other. Terrance slurping his fruit smoothie loudly and making as much noise as he could while cutting a slab of ham brought them out of their gaze on each other. They quickly broke their grasp and began eating as the clicking of Eustacia's five inch heels drew closer to the dining room.

"Good morning everyone!" She said cheerily. She sat down and snapped her fingers for an attendant so she could give her breakfast order.

"You know, the buffet is only three feet from the table, right?" Terrance asked. Eustacia glared at him. Wiress kicked Terrance under the table. He rolled his eyes and continued his noisy eating routine.

"Well, I hope your evening went well last night!" Eustacia screeched. This time Beetee, Wiress, and Terrance looked away from each other. Wiress blushed a dark pink and color was creeping up Beetee's neck. Terrance bit his lip to keep from doubling over in laughter. Eustacia either chose not to notice or was truly oblivious to the awkwardness settling around the table. "Well, let me tell you all about the most magnificent sponsor party I have seen in ages!" Her screeching and carrying on went through everyone's head without stopping in the middle. Wiress was dutifully eating and trying not to meet Terrance's gaze. Beetee's eyes seemed fixed on Wiress as if she would dissapear if she was out of the line of his vision. Terrance was trying not to look at anyone and concentrated on packing in the most calories he could before training.

"Ok. Time to go to the training center." Beetee announced looking at the clock. "Terrance - Wiress, get what you need from your rooms."

"That was probably the most awkward breakfast in the history of Panem." Terrance muttered coming out of his room. Wiress smacked him with her stack of plant flashcards and force vector diagrams for weapons. "HEY!"

"Terrance - _I don't want to hear it! Ok?"_ Wiress snapped. Terrance took a step back seeing his district partner clearly upset.

"Ok - Ok - sorry." He paused. "I - I guess I didn't think you'd be uptight today."

"_Two days,_ Terrance! That's it!" Wiress said knowing she was overwrought, but couldn't control her emotions. "That's all I have!"

"Don't give up!" Terrance said. "I haven't given up on you and - and - you know very well - the one you love hasn't." he said choosing his words carefully. Wiress took deep breaths as the logical analytical side of her brain assumed control once again.

"Ok." She whispered. "You're right. C'mon, we don't want to be late."

"Wiress?" Beetee asked concerned. He had come down the hall at hearing Wiress becoming upset. Wiress looked around. Eustacia was on the couch in the living room applying make-up to her face. Quickly Wiress grasped Beetee's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I know both of you will do very well today." He said.

"Thanks, Beetee." Terrance said.

"I'll see you." Wiress said. She locked eyes with him. _I'll work hard for you. I love you. _Terrance grabbed the stack of flash-cards Wiress was holding and began quizzing her the elevator. He smiled as as he saw his district partner shift into the student-nerd mindset as they entered the training center. Though he wasn't sure he wanted to win because his sister hadn't achieved victory in her Games, he knew he would help Wiress as much as he could. She had the spark of intelligence and determination coupled with the force of her love for Beetee to come home from the arena or die trying. _  
_


	18. Chapter 18

The next two days of training went smoothly for both Terrance and Wiress. The trainers were taken aback at Wiress' ability to use of some light weapons such as a bow and arrow, a sling-shot, a light sword, and some knives. Wiress calmly explained how she learned the physics behind each one from observation. They smiled and nodded at her explanations. Terrance was working with heavier weapons. They spent the last day working on traps as they knew they could probably do better with those and survival coming from a non-career district.

"Wiress Caprenter!" One of the gamemakers called.

"Go get 'em, Engineer!" Terrance said giving her a thumbs-up. She smiled at him before walking into the training room. She made a rather complex trap and then tossed a dummy into it before using a bow and arrow on it. She then divided some plants into poisonous and edible before building another trap and then spearing the 'opponent' and then cutting it with some knives. She was dismissed and high-fived Terrance as she sat down.

Terrance focused on heavy weapons and traps. He used Wiress' advice and tried to think about it as a physics lesson. He could tell the gamemakers were impressed that tributes from Three were doing well in training. When he was done, he looked up and said in a whisper, "There. That's for you, sis." He was dismissed and both he and Wiress tried not to laugh as the well toned girl from Four glared at them before strutting into the training room.

"Terrance Ironsmith. Eight." Terrance cheered and high-fived Beetee and Wiress. "Wiress Carpenter. Nine!" The crowd was audibly shocked. "District Three looks like they have some extraordinarily clever tributes this year!" Caesar Flickerman said as the crowd cheered.

"Great job, you two. Great job - I'm so proud of you!" Beetee wrapped both Terrance and Wiress in a hug.

"Thanks, man." Terrance said grinning. Wiress smiled and took Beetee's hand. They watched the rest of the training scores with Terrance writing notes every so often.

"Well! I'm off then!" Eustacia said hopping up from the couch. "My, I'm certainly attending a lot of sponsorship parties for you this year! Isn't this fun?" She spun around and looked at her charges on the couch. "Mr. Tesla and Miss Carpenter, what on earth are you two playing at?" She stared at their clasped hands that were on Beetee's lap. _  
_

"I - we- I was a bit nervous." Wiress stammered.

"Well, don't be! Goodness, I'm sure you'll have sponsors now!" Eustacia squealed before flouncing out of the living room.

"You two seriously need to be more discrete." Terrance muttered. "Beetee, do you need to talk with me about anything?" Wiress disentangled her hand from Beetee's and scooted more toward the edge of the couch to give Beetee and Terrance some alone time.

"No -" Beetee said thinking. "No, I think you did very very well, Terrance." He paused. "Just like your sister." He smiled. "You'll go far."

"Thanks." Terrance said.

"We can talk about interview strategies tomorrow. Both of you." Terrance and Wiress knew it was their cue to go to their rooms.

Wiress lay in bed thinking. She knew her grandmother, Julie, Melissa, and the teachers at the Engineering Academy would be proud of her score. She briefly wondered how much of a threat the Careers thought she posed. But she knew that she had worked hard for everyone at home. A knock on a certain part of the wall indicated Terrance had put in his ear plugs. She smiled as she went to Beetee's room.

"Hey, beautiful." Beetee said from under his blankets.

"Were you resting long?" Wiress asked.

"Yeah. And just pondering how I was so lucky to get to know such a smart beautiful young lady such as yourself." Wiress smiled before joining him and sharing a few kisses.

"Beetee - how can I pretend to be someone I'm not during my interview?" Wiress asked as Beetee rubbed her arms.

"They can dress you up how they like, but your mind will shine through." Beetee whispered. "Go in knowing that someone has seen you and loves you exactly as you are. Right here right now." Wiress smiled.

"The way I love you." Wiress whispered before kissing her mentor with all the passion in her heart. They smiled at each other knowing they would have a good few hours purely to themselves until Eustacia came back from her party.


	19. Chapter 19

"So, Wiress, you're our little engineer aren't you?" Caesar Flickman asked.

"I suppose. I'm not certified yet. That's during our last year of the academy." Wiress explained.

"I see." Caesar said smiling. "Well, your training score of nine is nearly a Career level score." Wiress smiled. "Any thoughts?"

"I approached my examination like a practical exam at school and did my best." She shrugged. "Using materials around you to achieve a goal is what engineering is about anyway."

"And that goal is?"

"To perform to my best ability." Wiress said. "My parents are watching over me, and my grandmother and my friends and teachers at the academy are watching also. I want to do well for them." Caesar nodded. The crowd murmured in agreement and sympathy.

"Speaking of people at the academy, your mentor is probably its most famous alumnus." He smiled. "It has come to my attention that your relationship with him goes well beyond mentor-tribute or even engineer and apprentice." Caesar paused. "What will you do in the arena to come back to your mentor – the man who has eagerly reciprocated your feelings of love?"

Beetee's blood froze. He sat on the couch with head down, face in his hands before trembling uncontrollably. This was why the Gamemakers gave her a high score. She was their target to break him. Wiress' face showed shock for a split second before she resumed her calm demeanor. "I will do my best because he has taught me a lot." Wiress said evenly. "I – If I die, I promise I will watch over him." She couldn't hide a smile even though he knew she was shaking with fear inside. The buzzer went off. Everyone cheered and some people in the audience 'awwed.' Beetee watched Terrance's interview through a curtain of tears.

"Beetee?" Wiress asked in the doorway of his room. After chatting with Terrance, she went to her room and pretended to be asleep so Beetee could have time with him. After hearing his snores from down the hallway, Wiress had crept out of her room and to his door. Beetee shook his head sadly as he looked at her. Wiress turned to walk away and found herself wrapped in Beetee's arms. She shivered as he kissed her neck and shoulder. She turned around and looked into his eyes before wrapping her arms around his neck. Beetee whispered her name in between kisses as he guided them to the bed. "Did I – did I say the right thing?" Wiress asked as she rested her head on his chest.

"You did, honey. You did." Beetee whispered. Tears streamed down his face as he ran his fingers along Wiress' cheek.

"Don't be sorry." Wiress nodded. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"You're still sad though." Wiress said, tears coming to her eyes. "I'm – I'm afraid I've hurt you because you might lose me." Beetee knew she was 100% correct.

"My life is richer now because I've loved you." Beetee said. "Please believe that." Wiress nodded. She smiled as Beetee's lips met hers. Much later in the evening, Beetee carried her back to her room and helped her into a comfortable nightgown. "I love you." He whispered as he pulled the covers over her and squeezed her hand.

"I love you too." Wiress said smiling. She took his hand and kissed it. "Beetee - could you stay with me? Until I fall asleep?" Beetee smiled and crawled under the covers. He wrapped his arms and legs around Wiress and watched her as she fell asleep. When her breathing was slow and even, he slowly climbed out of her bed. He kissed her on the forehead before tiptoeing out of the room and closing the door.

He gasped as he heard the unmistakable giggling of Eustacia. She stood in the hallway next to Wiress' door still in her party clothes. A wicked grin was spread across her face. "I came back earlier than you expected me to, did I?" beetee was lost for words. "Don't worry, Caesar knew that your secret had to be spilled before the Games! The Capital will just _love_ the drama you two have created!" Beetee clenched his fists and stared at Eustacia. He was furious beyond words. Eustacia smirked at him again. "Alright, Mr. Topsy-Turvy in love Tesla, back to your room! Your little girl-toy tribute needs to sleep!" She gasped as she was slammed against the wall opposite to Wiress' room. Beetee glared at her and gripped her upper-arms in a vice-like grip. His face was mere inches away from hers, and her quick anxious breaths were fogging up his glasses.

"You never talk about Wiress or any of my tributes like that." Beetee hissed. "They get humiliated enough in the arena. They do not need it from you! Do you understand?"

"Clearly." Eustacia said sweetly, but her voice dripped with anger. "Perhaps, you should lay down too. Go on." Beetee went to his room and heard the door slam behind him. He heard the door lock, and then he heard a series of clicks. He turned the handle to the door and realized he was locked in. Eustacia was still outside as he hadn't heard her clomping down the hall in her high-heels. He took a deep breath. Though every fiber of his being wanted to scream and pound on the door, his desire to not give Eustacia that satisfaction of a scene won out. He whistled to himself as he changed into his pajamas and turned off the light. No matter what the Capital did to the young lady he loved, he would do everything to protect her.


	20. Chapter 20

Wiress wordlessly held out her arm when the doctor came to inject her tracker. Tears came to her eyes as the windows of the hovercraft were darkened. Terrance finished the meat, cheese, and fruit on his plate. "Ok. I'm full." Terrance announced. "C'mon, Wiress. Get two plates down you."

"Ok." Wiress whispered. She got some more food and began to eat. After a few minutes she pushed her plate away, put her elbows on the table, buried her face in her hands, and began to cry.

"Wiress?" Terrance asked concerned. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I - I'm nervous too."

"I - I might - never - see him - again -" Wiress sobbed.

"You will." Terrance said. "Just keep focusing. He'll be watching us in the arena."

"I - I know - but - it's not the same." Wiress sniffled. Terrance nodded. "How - How are you holding up?"

"Ok. I guess." Terrance said. "I figure if the worst happens, I'll see my sister again." He smiled. "I'm going to give my best. And I know you will too. I was feeling a bit nervous, but I think talking helps."

"Maybe you can eat more food." She shoved her plate over to him and they split the contents. They finished their glasses of water as the hovercraft landed. They shook hands.

"See you soon." They said to each other.

"60...59...58...57..." Wiress stood on her plate. The cornocupia was in a field surrounded by forest. Terrance was three people to her left. Their plan was to grab some items at the perimeter and run. Wiress sighed. Even if the main cameras weren't on her, she knew Beetee's was. _Beetee,_ She mouthed. _I love you. _She smiled knowing Beetee was watching her from the mentor room. _I love you._ "Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...Ladies and Gentelmen, let the 54th Hunger Games Begin!" The gong sounded and Wiress grabbed a small backpack and a pocket-knife. Terrance made out with another pack and something else. They both ran to the woods as fast as they could.

"Good job, honey, good job!" Beetee whispered through his tears. Watching her mouth the words, _I love you_ nearly made him break down sobbing even before the games had even started. He watched them walk through the forest. They found the stream that was next to another field. Beetee flicked the screen of his tablet that had each tribute's readings from their tracker, their sponsorship money, and a map of the arena with the locations of the other tributes. He looked at the map. The forest would end revealing their position on top of a large round mountain.

"I haven't heard anyone." Terrance said.

"We should move." Wiress said. "I - I think the others might try and find the creek too." Terrance nodded. She got up and they walked to where the mountain began sloping down.

"Wait -" Terrance said. Wiress's eyes went wide with fear as Terrance looked around. He pointed to a tree and they started climbing. No sooner than they had reached the denser branches, a girl who looked about fourteen ran to the creek. She was quickly followed by two Careers. Terrance clapped a hand over Wiress' mouth to keep her from screaming.

"Why hello, Seven." A tall muscular boy taunted. "Feeling rather at home in the woods?"

"Probably more so than you. I suppose you'd feel more at home if you were grubbing around trying to find jewels in the dirt." The girl retorted. The boy's district partner grabbed her around the throat.

"Care to say that again?" She snarled in the other girl's ear. Terrance grasped a small knife and aimed it.

"Use this." Wiress whispered. "As a slingshot type device." She pulled at one of the branches. Terrance nodded. "Who are we aiming for?" Terrance pointed to the girl.

"Oh god - kids - what do you think you're doing -" Beetee gasped watching his two tributes on the large screen in front of them. They were also being broadcasted to the rest of Panem. He looked at the large screen that dominated one wall of the mentor room. He knew if they acted too slowly, they could wind up being easy targets. He looked at the map

"No! Let me go! I promise I won't hurt you!" The girl from Seven said beginning to panic as the other girl tightened her grip around her neck as the boy pulled a hatchet out of his backpack.

"You know what _this_ is, don't you?" Terrance shifted and let the knife fly through the air. The boy dropped the hatchet as the knife pierced his chest. Wiress grabbed a stone she had found and launched it at the girl holding Seven by her neck. The stone hit the girl in the side of the head. She gave the fourteen year-old's neck a sickening twist before she fell to the ground. Wiress and Terrance jumped down from the tree.

"Oh - crap -" Terrance gasped. The District 1 girl was clearly unconscious. Her district partner was coughing up blood. He staggered to his feet and grasped the hatchet.

"Terrance - run." Wiress said.

"Wiress -" She pushed him and he began running. Wiress pulled out her pocket knife. The boy threw the hatchet. His aim was off as he had a coughing fit in the middle of gauging his aim. She came over to him as he fell forward. He cried out as the kinfe was driven deeper into his chest.

"I can't - breathe - " He groaned. He grunted in pain before coughing up more blood. Wiress helped him roll onto his side. "How - much - longer?" He asked. Wiress saw the pleading look in his eyes.

"Do you - do you want me - I can end it." The boy coughed up more blood and froth. "What's your name?" She asked suddenly.

"Jared."

"Hold my hand, Jared." Wiress said. "Who - who do you want to talk to? From home?"

"Mom - dad - Gina -" He coughed and groaned. Wiress let go of his hand to feel for a pulse in his neck. She quickly made a deep cut over the vessels and held his hand again until his cannon fired. She grabbed his hatchet as well as his partner's knife. Wiress realized she was still unconscious. She felt bad, but she took her backpack anyway before running off to find Terrance.

"There you are!" Terrance gasped as Wiress ran toward him. He gasped seeing her shirt and hands covered in blood. "What happened?" He yelped. She shook her head.

"I - I - I'm here. That's all." Wiress stammered. She tossed the extra backpack to Terrance. She looked around and sat on the ground.

"I had to do something. That girl - she - she reminded me of - my sister." Terrance said. Wiress nodded. They watched the hovercraft pick up Jared and the girl from Seven. "We have to keep moving, Wiress. The other Careers are going to look for them. Wiress nodded.

Terrance and Wiress didn't run into anyone else as the day drew on. They quickly realized they were on a mountain of some sort and found an area to set up camp. They went through their supplies and found some food as well as a first-aid kit and the knives and hatchet. "Set up traps?" Terrance asked.

"Ok." Wiress said. "Um - could - you?" She asked as the memory of Jared's death overpowered her brain.

"Sure." Terrance said. Wiress sat against a tree and looked out at the landscape. Her mind wandered to Beetee.

"Beetee?" She said softly. "I - " She looked at her hands still bloodstained. She held them up. "Look at my hands. Do - do you still love me - with these hands?" Tears came down her face. "You know what this feels like." She whispered. "I - I wish you were here with me. I - I want to come home to you. I do - I - I just hate - this." She gestured to her hands again. "I love you." She curled up and took a bit of a nap knowing Terrance was nearby.


	21. Chapter 21

Terrance and Wiress spent the next few days setting up traps along the stream and in hiding. They would take turns investigating if they heard someone else tangled in a trap. Beetee watched them work and sighed. Thankfully for the trapped tributes, both Terrance and Wiress ended their lives in the least painful ways. However, he knew the Gamemakers were getting bored with them. After gushing that District Three had made it past the third day, the commentators were getting bored with District Three's methods.

"Wake me up if I start to snore." Terrance quipped as he lay down in his camoflaughed sleeping bag. Wiress laughed and playfully smacked him. Beetee chuckled as well. Terrance was almost always woken up several times during his sleeping shifts for snoring. "Night!"

"Night." Wiress whispered. "Good night, love." She whispered smiling. Though she said that every night, Beetee still cried when he heard it.

"You say that every night to our mentor." Terrance muttered. Wiress blushed causing Beetee to laugh. Several other mentors stared at him. "Sorry."

"Beetee, check the map." Haymitch said around loud gulps of some sort of liquor from a bottle several hours into Wiress' watch.

"What - oh -" Beetee paled. There was a pod near Wiress and Terrances' campsite that was blinking. That meant the Gamekeepers were about ready to set mutts loose or intervene in the arena.

"Whacha gonna do about it, Geek Squad?" Haymitch asked. He staggered over to Beetee's station. "You gonna save your girl, Geek Squad?" Beetee's fingers shook as he pressed buttons on his tablet that sent Wiress some night-vision glasses and a knife laced with tranquilizer.

Wiress saw a silver parachute floating from the sky. "Beetee?" She asked. "Is something wrong?" She put the glasses on and gasped as she looked toward the trees. Three animals of some kind were slowly moving toward them. "Terrance?" She shook her district partner. "Terrance - get up! Hurry!"

"Huh?" He asked groggily.

"Mutts!" Wiress looked toward the woods. She saw at least three mountain-lions slowly coming toward them. "Get up!" Terrance sat up. Suddenly they heard the mutts growling.

"RUN!" Terrance yelled. He grabbed Wiress' hand and they ran toward the creek.

"MUTTS! RUN!" Wiress yelled in case other tributes were in the area. She and Terrance dove into the creek and swam down a way hoping to throw the mutts off from their scent. They saw two other tributes climb down from a tree and run toward the creek as well. They were a second too late as the mountain lions pounced on them. "NOOOOO!" At the sound of another tribute's screams of terror and pain Wiress pulled out the special knife and began running toward the pack.

"WIRESS! WE CAN'T SAVE THEM!" Terrance called. "C'mon!" He grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground. "C'mon!" They began running again. Suddenly Terrance screamed and was thrown to the ground.

"TERRANCE!" Wiress yelled. To her horror, a mountain lion was on top of him. She began plunging the knife into the animal. She screamed as she was clawed across the face. She aimed at its chest and kept stabbing it until it rolled off her district partner obviously dead. "Terrance?" Wiress asked shakily.

"You can't help me, Wiress." Terrance whispered. He was bleeding profusely from his arms, torso, and abdomen.

"I - I'm sorry - I - I shouldn't have stopped - I'm - I'm sorry -" Wiress sobbed.

"Don't worry about it." Terrance muttered. Wiress held his hand and brushed the hair away from his face.

"Thanks - thanks for - everything." She whispered.

"Yeah." Terrance said. "Same to you." He paused. "Listen -" He said as his breathing got heavier and more irregular. "There's - this - geeky awesome guy - waiting for you - ok? You gotta get out of here - for him - ok?"

"Ok." Wiress whispered. She closed Terrance's eyes after his cannon sounded.

"You saved her, Geek Squad." Haymitch grunted before walking back to his station. "Sorry about the boy."

"Get up, honey. Get up." Beetee whispered looking at Wiress. She was laying face down on the ground crying several yards away from Terrance. She hadn't moved even though the hovercraft had picked him up a good ten minutes ago.

"I – I can't – I can't –" Wiress sat up. She looked at the knife she used on the mountain lion mutt. She closed her eyes and raised it angling it toward her chest.

"NO! WIRESS! NO!" Beetee yelled. He didn't care that all the mentors were staring at him.

"If she do that, her family dies." Seeder muttered. "Ain't no one told her, probably."

"Beetee –" Wiress whispered. "I – I can't do this – I – I love you – but – I – just – can't –" Tears ran down her cheeks. She clutched the knife harder. Beetee looked at her vital signs that the tracker was monitoring. Her heart-rate increased.

"She's nervous. Look at that." Mags said pointing with a gnarled finger.

"Beetee –" Wiress whispered. She closed her eyes and images from both their lives flashed before her eyes. She was twelve and asking the twenty year-old inventor about his newly-designed wire. She was surprised at his approachableness and blushed when he said, 'My, you're probably the smartest one in the first-year class.' She was fifteen and walking across the stage at the academy to receive the certificate as proof of obtaining the I-Squared scholarship. Her gaze met Beetee's, and she was taken aback by the intensity of her grief that was mirrored in his eyes. She was eighteen and accepting his offer of an internship at I-Squared. She cried harder as she remembered how they grew closer throughout the semester. She closed her eyes and thought about their nights before she entered the arena. _I can't leave him now. Not like this. _"NO!" She yelled. She plunged the knife into the ground. "They can't take me!" She yelled. "They won't win." She whispered. She picked up her and Terrance's packs. Though she was still shaking badly and stumbled a few times, she walked away with resolution. She would do everything she could to not let the games tear her away from the man she loved.

"She's a strong one." Mags said clapping Beetee on the shoulder.

"Girl, you sho' showed 'em." Seeder whispered. Beetee sent her some water and a small basket of bread rolls from District Three.

"Thank you, District Three." Wiress said smiling. "Thank you, love." She whispered.

"No – thank you." Beetee said through his tears. "Thank you for showing them the strong young lady you are."


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Wiress' mental breakdown was also inspired by "Breathe" by NutsandVolts :)

* * *

"I guess I could -" Wiress looked around before climbing down the tree near the center of the arena. She had maintained a low profile for two days after Terrance's death.

"You can get to the cornucopia." Beetee muttered. Wiress tentatively walked out into the clearing. She ran over and inspected the remaining contents. Deep in the back Wiress found a familiar object. It was a large battery about the size of a book. She placed it in her backpack.

"I just need -" Wiress looked around.

"Wire." Beetee finished. "Look over to your right more, hon."

"Y'all know you can't hear each other, right?" Seeder asked.

"I know." Beetee said. "She thinks out loud though. She did it as an intern." He smiled.

"Beetee - did you -" Wiress smiled as she held up a coil of wire. She placed it in her backpack. She looked around and attempted to crawl under a gap between the metal and the ground. Just then two tributes from the Career pack ran toward the cornucopia. Wiress picked up two stones and a sling she had made out of flexible twigs and grass she had woven together. She used the sling-shot to hit the two tributes before running back into the woods. She covered her ears as the sounds of the two yelling at each other and fighting reached the area. She cringed as she heard screams of pain as they fought each other to the death. "No - I'm sorry -" Her large eyes widened as two cannons went off.

Wiress began making a trap. She wrapped the wire around the components of the trap and climbed up the tree to wait. "Congratulations to our female District Three tribute, Both District Two tributes, and our male District Four tribute for making it into the final Four!" Claudius Templesmith called. "As you all are very near the cornucopia, I'll just invite you to the feast straightaway!" A table with baskets of bread rolls from all the districts represented in the final four appeared out of the ground.

"I think - I should stay -" Wiress whispered.

"Good thinking, love." Beetee whispered looking at her tablet and then at the main screen. The District Four male ran for the District Two female and began attacking her with a knife. She rolled away from him and her partner pushed him into the side of the cornucopia before stabbing him in the back.

"Where's Three?" The male District Two tribute asked.

"Dunno." His partner muttered.

"Well - go get her and then we'll finish off Four!" The boy snarled.

"Let's get her together. Then finish off Four together."

"Ok." The boy grunted. "Come out, Three! Come out!" He called. He noticed a branch moving on the ground. He ran toward it. As his foot hit the ground, a rope made out of flexible branches hoisted him up in the air. Another branch wrapped around his middle, and yet another wrapped around his left elbow cutting into his flesh until it bled. His district partner yelled but she was soon wrapped in another set of ropes.

The tribute from Four realized he was still alive. He also realized his adversaries were trapped. With all his strength, he picked up his light-weight steel sword and ran toward the trap.

"Say goodbye to your partner!" He sneered at the boy from Two before plunging his sword into the girl. He tried to take it out to deliver the fatal blow, but it was tangled in the branches. As he wiggled it, he didn't realize it was caught between the branch and the thin metal wire incorporated in the trap.

"This should have enough voltage to -" Wiress quickly wrapped the wire around the two ends of the battery. Suddenly the tree was hit by lightning. The three Career tributes that were all caught in the trap screamed before they all went limp. The wire had burnt into their flesh, in some cases nearly burnt off their limbs. Three cannons went off as Wiress fell from the tree and landed on the ground where she twitched uncontrollably. She lay still for a second before moving her arm to feel her surroundings. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the victor of the 54th Hunger Games - Wiress Carpenter!" A hovercraft appeared and picked her up with a 4 pronged clip. Beetee looked down at his tablet that still showed her heart-rate, blood-oxygen, body temperature, and other statistics the tracker was relaying. The numbers were flashing red. Without intervention soon, she would die.

"Hold on, sweetie, it's almost over." Beetee whispered, tears trickling down his cheeks.  
The scene on the main TV screens changed to an operating room where doctors lay Wiress on the table. "She's barely here." A doctor observed worriedly as the medical team quickly hooked her up to their machines. The tablet went blank as her tracker was removed from her arm. "Blood pressure's falling."

"Get four units of blood! She's nearly in shock!" The doctors bustled around Wiress' operating table shouting commands at each other. One of them slid a tube down her throat seconds before a monitor sounded. The doctors all exchanged glances. One of them ran to the corner of the room and grabbed a crash-cart. As he was pushing it to the operating table, one of the wheels wobbled causing the cart with all the equipment on it to crash uselessly to the floor.

"NO! NO!" Beetee screamed as he watched the monitors in the operating room display flat lines or zero's for Wiress' vital signs. "WIRESS! DON'T GO – DON'T DIE – PLEASE! I LOVE YOU – I LOVE YOU! NOOOOOO!" Two guards grabbed him and dragged him out of the mentors' control room as the main screens went blank. He was carried and dragged to the basement of the training center.

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A/N: The idea of one member of Team Nerds thinking that their other half is dead also comes from "Breathe" as well as the idea for the next chapter.

Again... Poor Beetee :(


	23. Chapter 23

Beetee was still crying and screaming Wiress' name when he was thrown onto a concrete floor. The wind was knocked out of him and he lay sprawled out on the cold floor gasping for air. He heard several sets of footsteps and realized that there were only three people in the room with him. "We meet again, Mr. Tesla." A tall sturdily built peacekeeper said sneering. He grabbed Beetee by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to a standing position. "I visited your house after you and your dear intern turned tribute forgot to register her little machine with the Capital." He said before spitting in his face.

"Technically it was an improvement on an existing component of Factory Four." Beetee said muttered back tears. He was jolted out of the memory of offering Wiress her internship with a slap to the face.

"What were you two playing at?" The peacekeeper asked. He snapped his fingers. Two male assistants grabbed Beetee and pushed him up against a wall. He blacked out momentarily as the back of his skull crashed against the wall. Beetee stared at the ground not bothering to hold back the tears. He was struck across the face again. His glasses flew from his face and shattered on the floor. "ANSWER ME! DID YOU PULL THE MENTOR-TRIBUTE LOVERS THING TO INCITE AN UPRISING?"

"You killed her." Beetee whispered as pain overwhelmed him at the mention of his and Wiress' relationship. "There's nothing more to say. There's nothing more you people can do."

"Are you aware that we nearly had an uprising? ARE YOU?"

"How could I? I went from the mentoring room to here." Beetee's answer was met with more blows to his face and body. He sank to his knees as the beating continued. "Wiress -" He whispered. The pain of seeing her death hurt more than any kick by a Peacekeeper's metal toed boots ever would. "I'll always love you honey -" He broke down sobbing as the Peacekeeper gave his orders to his attendants to back up.

"EXPLAIN THIS!" Beetee looked at a computer tablet shoved under his nose through his tears. He recognized the scene as a view from one of the many security cameras mounted above the town square of District Three.

People were gathered for the required viewing of the Hunger Games. The cameras panned in on Wiress in the operating room of the hovercraft. Beetee's heart constricted painfully as he watched her death again. The crowd immediately gave the district sign to the TV and began chanting her name. Beetee shook his head, a mix of emotions tumbling through his head. He was feeling the sharp raw pain of grief for Wiress, yet pride and gratefulness to his district for immediately acting to honor her memory. Suddenly Peacekeepers began firing on the crowd. They dispersed, but several people lay in the square dead or dying. "EXPLAIN!"

"I - They - they were upset - that a respected up and coming engineer died. For your games." Beetee stood up to face the Peacekeeper. "They gave her honor as her life ebbed away. Unlike the Capital." He said. He stood unmoving as the peacekeeper and his assistants rushed at him. The thought that sustained him through the pain of their punches and kicks was this: if he were to die at their hands, he'd soon be reunited with the love of his life. As he blacked out yet again, he felt her love as if it was being sent to him from beyond this world.

"Get up." "A guard said harshly some time later. "GET UP!" Beetee opened his eyes. How long he had been lying on the floor he didn't know. His cuts and bruises smarted. His own blood was spattered on the walls and the floor of the concrete room. "Change." The guard threw a clean shirt and pants into the room. Beetee peeled off his blood soaked clothing as quickly as he could wincing as he looked at his beaten body. He stood up and was promptly blindfolded. Muffs were put over his ears and his hands were cuffed in front of him. "They're ready for him. Let's go." The guard said to his colleague somewhere else. Beetee was grasped by the elbows and jerked around as he was led down numerous hallways. A door opened and he was walked near the wall of a small room judging by the echos of his and the guards' footsteps. He was pushed down onto a mat. The cuffs were taken off his wrists. His hands automatically went up to his face before they were slapped away. "Not until we leave the room and the door is locked!" The guards footsteps grew fainter before a door slammed.


	24. Chapter 24

Beetee took in deep breaths. The room had an antiseptic smell. _Is this a newly scrubbed jail cell?_ He wondered. He waited for several more minutes before slowly taking off the blindfold and muffs. Beetee gasped and looked around at the army of machines surrounding the bed before looking at the small figure who was nearly as pale as the sheets covering her.

"Wiress?" He whispered. Even though every inch of him was in severe pain, he forced himself to make his way over to the bed. _She's alive. **She's alive!**_ He pulled himself up using the railing and held her hand. The scratches on her face were cleaned and a breathing tube was coming out of her mouth. Wires were coming out of a bandage over her heart and numerous other tubes and wires were connected to her. "I'm so glad you're alive, love." He brushed a lock of hair away from her face before kissing her forehead. He dragged his mat over near her bed. He held her hand and watched her sleep. "I won't leave you, honey." He whispered. "I'll be here when you wake up." It was only when he lay down on his mat that he allowed the tears to come.

Once Beetee was tended to and his wounds began to heal, he began assisting the medical aides with Wiress' personal care such as bathing her, re-positioning her in bed, and changing her hospital gown. Even though he was locked in her hospital room, caring for Wiress made the time go by quickly and made him feel less helpless. The aides would smile at him as he talked to her or hummed a song to her as he would hold her hand or comb her hair.

"Look at you, you're getting stronger." Beetee said after Wiress' breathing tube was removed. "You can breathe on your own and you have five less meds to take." He washed her face to get the residue from the tape off. To his surprise, her eyes fluttered open. "Wiress?" he asked. "It's me, Beetee." He took her hand in his. "Can you squeeze my hand, love?" He felt a small squeeze. "Good girl." he whispered. He kissed her on the forehead. Her eyes drooped closed again. "You sleep as long as you need to."

"Wow! First time she opened her eyes!" One of the aides said smiling. Beetee nodded and picked Wiress up so the aide could take the sheets off her bed. "We'll write that down and tell the doctor!" Beetee sat on the chair next to the bed and settled Wiress in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close whispering to her how much he loved her. Once her bed was made with fresh sheets, he lay her back down. As she was sleeping peacefully, he lay down on his mat for a brief nap.

"Good morning, Beetee." Dr. Aurelius, the neuropsychiatrist for the victors said two days later. He was allowed into the room by a peacekeeper. He smiled at Wiress who was propped up in bed having her hair braided after her sponge-bath.

"Maybe she'll open her eyes for you today." Beetee said as he finished braiding her freshly cleaned hair. Her eyes fluttered open as he kissed her cheek and ran his fingers down the side of her face. "Good morning, babe. I knew you'd want to show the doctor your beautiful eyes." He said smiling, relishing the few seconds he had with her awake.

"Hi, Wiress." Dr. Aurelius said smiling. He took out a penlight and looked into her eyes. "Good. You're tracking." He said watching her follow the light with her eyes. She blinked and stared at him with a blank expression on her face. "You're in the hospital dear." She closed her eyes. "I know, we'll let you go back to sleep."

"She's doing that more and more." Beetee said smiling. "She woke up twice during her bath."

"You're pretty devoted to her care, aren't you?" Dr. Aurelius asked sitting on the end of Wiress' bed looking at his friend. Beetee nodded. "I - ah - obviously you two were very close even before the Games started." Beetee nodded as he followed the doctor's gaze to his and Wiress' interlocked hands. "How do you see your relationship progressing once she returns to Three?"

"I - I'll take her home. Help her grandmother move in to our if she wants." Beetee said. "If Wiress needs an extra helper when we get back to Three, I'll hire one. I'm not leaving her, doctor."

"I know." Dr. Aurelius smiled. "We'll get a better sense of her neurological profile once she wakes up more. Um - You do understand that your relationship may not be as - intense as it was?"

"Yeah." Beetee said. "I know." He smiled. "I'm - I'm just glad she's alive. Even if I have to care for her like this for the rest of my life, I'll do it. I love her, doc."

"I know." Dr. Aurelius said smiling. "That's why I'm not too worried about her care when she goes home. The love of her life will be watching out for her."

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A/N: aaaaaaaaaaaaaand... SAPPY ENDING! :)

Hope you all enjoyed :)


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